K On!: Shattered Dreams
by MidniteBleuCrusader
Summary: Complete - AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Full Summary inside, R&R as usual.
1. Yui and Azusa: Fallen Birds

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams**

**By MidniteBleuCrusader**

Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?

Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?

Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

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**Chapter 1: Yui & Azusa – Fallen Birds**

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'_It was just a routine concert… how did it end up like this?'_ Yui thought to herself as she ran for her life. Alone in this very hostile environment she was in right now, all she had was her battle fan and her guitar slung over her back. The screams of "GET HER!" and "KILL THEM ALL!" echoed through the field. All she could do was run, and run, and run. She ran as far as her legs could carry her, until she hit a dead end; an alleyway between 2 shops. _'O-oh no… I'm screwed now!'_ Her thoughts rang through her head. Her assailants, with the letters 'S.E.S.' printed on the back of their jackets, were the ones who had crashed the concert.

"Hehe! Look what we have here. Little Yui Hirasawa from the HTT." This man, obviously the leader, bellowed. Yui stood her ground, but still scared for her life.

"W-who're you people? What do you want from me?" She screamed at them. All the leader gave her was a disgusting smirk.

"We ain't interested in no kid like you. We just want that guitar. Heard it's worth a lot more than the bounty on your head, Hirasawa." She looked a bit confused, but still defensive about giving anything to these people.

"This is MY guitar, and none of you are getting your hands on it!" She whips out her battle fan in defense. The group of men tries to swarm her. "Come at me whenever you like!" The men accept the invitation, but one at a time they all fall down to Yui's prowess with her new weapon. Spinning around elegantly, slashing her attackers at the neck one at a time without using much lethal force.

It all went well, until one of them smashed her head with a beer bottle. "UNGH!" She groaned, the impact of that hit causing her to hit the ground hard. "N-ngh… cowards…"

"Tch… feisty little… forget the girl, just grab the guitar and let's go!" But before they could do so, though, a gale blows in, knocking the men back. "T-the hell!"

"Lay your hands on Yui-senpai OR the guitar and you'll get it from me." The helper, holding a polearm and raring to go, is none other than Azusa Nakano, Hokago Tea Time's 2nd guitarist. She leaps up from where she is, landing right where Yui's downed body is, leaving a minor whirlwind right where she lands. "Yui-senpai, wake up! Wake up!" She tries to fight off the attackers one at a time, still urging her senior to wake up. "SENPAI, WAKE UP! WAKE UP!" The words keep echoing into Yui's head……

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"Senpai, wake up." Azusa's voice had stirred the lead guitarist from her slumber. She woke up, yawning and stretching. They were under shelter from the heavy rains that have hit Japan for the past couple of days now.

"E-eh… Azu-nyan, what time is it?" She asked.

"It's just 10 to midnight, Yui-senpai." Azusa replied, looking at her watch as the raindrops fall onto it. "Is it time yet, senpai?"

"No… not yet, Azu-nyan…" She rubs on her temples, feeling a bit of pain from her dream. "Ngh…"

"Senpai, are you okay?" Azusa asked, concerned about her senior.

"I-I'm all right… I just had that dream again." Azusa immediately knew what Yui was talking about.

"Right… that day……" She sits right next to her senior and leans her head against her shoulder. "How did it end up like this, Senpai…?"

"It's probably what Sawa-chan-sensei said… 'Things can often go wrong during concerts'. I think Sawa-chan was right… just that things went wrong and out of hand quickly…"

"Now… we don't know what happened to Ritsu-senpai, Mio-senpai and Mugi-senpai…" Azusa clings onto Yui's arm. "I'm worried about them…" All the lead guitarist of the HTT does is pat Azusa's head, calming her.

"Now, now, let's not give up hope too easily, okay? They can't have just disappeared like that, so chin up, okay, Azu-nyan?" Hearing those words of encouragement, Azusa smiled at Yui, getting up and carries her guitar case on her back, slinging the straps around her arms.

"Let's get going, shall we?" Yui nods, getting up as well and carries her guitar case, albeit slightly dangerously. "H-hey, be careful, senpai. We don't want it to break like it did THAT time. Do you know how much work we put in for Sawa-chan to fix it?" Yui was then reminded of another memory she recalled…

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_**~Flashback~**_

All she could do was stare at the harsh reality that had hit her. All she could do was hold the pieces of her most prized possession and hold them close.

Yui just sat there, tears trickling down her eyes, as she held both halves of her prized possession, Gitah, in her arms. "Why…?" All she could do was ask herself that. Who would do such a thing to her and her new-found passion for music? And with the concert just days away, it was a crisis she didn't want to face. Not NOW of all times.

The tears didn't stop flowing as she ran to Azusa's house, holding the broken Gitah with her. She almost crashed right into the door of Azusa's house, knocking at it frantically and screaming, "OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THE DOOR!" The guitarist kept banging against the door, almost as if she wanted to break it open. Luckily, Azusa managed to open the door in time.

"W-what is it, senpai? What is it?" She saw her own senior crying her eyes out in front of her, holding that guitar case tightly. She immediately knew what was wrong as she took Yui up to her room.

It took just one look at the damage to nearly break Azusa's heart as a fellow guitarist. She saw the guitar completely busted in half.

"What... who would do such a thing?"

"I-I don't know… the moment I got home I wanted to play it… then… then this… this happened…" Azusa could just feel what her senior is going through. She hugged Yui, trying to comfort her.

"T-there there… it's no use crying now… come on, let's go consult Sawa-chan. Maybe she can help." Yui nodded, though still distraught at what's transpired. She continued to be hugged by Azusa, who was always there for her when she needed her.

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Azusa seemed to notice that there's a grin on Yui's face. "Senpai… what're you smiling about?" She asked, curious.

"H-huh?" She seemed to be snapped back into reality. "Oh, nothing… just when you mentioned that… it was sort of funny… anyway, let's keep moving. The closer we get to our destination, the better." She smiled at Azusa, but Azusa felt something coming their way.

"SENPAI, LOOK OUT!" she grabs her senior and dodges from the incoming attack. Yui had no idea what was going on as she fell to the floor.

"Ungh! W-what was that?" She shook her head as she looked up, as a tall dark figure stood on the railing of the building.

"Oh boy, I never thought I'd see you two again… especially when both of you had SO MUCH FUN together on the outside, right, Yui-chan, Azusa-chan?" The all-too-familiar voice caught the attention of the HTT Lead guitarist.

"I-it's you!"

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**To Be Continued**

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Read and Review as always.


	2. Ritsu: Criminal

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams**

**By MidniteBleuCrusader**

Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?

Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?

Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

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**Chapter 2: Ritsu – Criminal**

Ritsu's theme – Theme of Cody from Super Street Fighter IV

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"So, having fun on the outside, you two? I'm sure you did." The person said, lighting a fire on her finger. Yui and Azusa got up from that last attack, still a bit shaky.

"I-is that…?" Azusa asked, looking at the now-lighted up figure. "R-Ritsu-senpai?" The drummer was wearing the outfit she used for the 'Don't Say Lazy' video.

"Ricchan! W-what're you doing?" Yui frantically asked, demanding an explanation from the drummer of the HTT.

"I should be the one asking you that, Yui. NOT YOU!" She throws another fireball at Yui. This time, Azusa jumps in spinning her polearm to dissipate the attack. "Hehe… you two have gotten better since the last time we spoke."

"Ritsu-senpai… what's gotten into you!" She yelled at her senior.

"SHUT UP!" Ritsu barked back, intimidating Azusa slightly. "You don't even know what life's like on the inside! I've had to suffer for all this and for WHAT! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! This place has turned into a dirthole, and suddenly I'M the one who's held responsible! Are you kidding me?"

"Ricchan, calm down, please! You got us all worried… what're you doing?" She asked worried sick. Hearing the voice of the guitarist, she dropped her attack and stepped off the railing heading toward them.

"What am I doing? Simple… I want answers. Answers as to what happened to this place while I got locked up. Answers as to why that concert went the way it did. I'm pissed off it ended up this way, but it's happened! Akiyama Mio is now the big-shot of Japan. She owns EVERYTHING now, and we're just little chess pieces on her chessboard." Yui was a bit confused.

"W-wait, Mio-chan took over all of Japan? How did that happen?"

"Uh, HELLOOOOO? Earth calling Yui! That's what happened! I don't know how she did it, the next thing I knew when I got out was that Mio took ALL of Japan. She's being worshipped as a Goddess right now, and I'm not gonna stand for it! What I'm gonna do is get up to that tower and show her a thing or two! Leave me locked up why don't you, huh!" Aside from all this however, Azusa could notice Ritsu having a bruise right on her eye.

"Ritsu-senpai, what happened to your eye?"

"Oh, THIS sucker? You'll NEVER guess who socked me right in the eye. Go on, take a stab." She said, but Yui and Azusa had absolutely no clue as to who did it. "Nodoka Manabe. And I thought she was the sweet girl in the whole school. Instead, she knocked me right in my eye. Hurts like hell now!" She clutched her eye a bit.

"Azu-nyan, go get something to fix up her eye, and quick. The drug store should still be open." Yui ordered, and Azusa just obliged, running down to get medication for Ritsu's eye. While she went down, Yui had not taken her eye off of the drummer, in case she tried to pull a sneak attack on her. Ritsu just smirked.

"Why are you giving me that look, huh, Yui? Don't tell me you've lost your smile. I don't blame you. After the mess that's gone down, too many people I know have lost their smiles… though I just can't believe you happen to be one of them." All Yui could do was just keep glaring at her.

"A lot has happened since that incident, Ricchan, and I don't wish to be reminded of it anymore. I'm more interested in what happened to YOU." Yui being assertive didn't play too well with Ritsu.

"I was worried about how the rest of the band was doing while I was stuck in a prison cell. I only got out no thanks to this." She snaps her fingers to summon a fire and let it rest on her hand. "I don't know how I got this power. Must've been given to me somehow, but I don't know."

"And what about Nodoka? What did you do with her?"

"Nothing. She was authority now. That and she's another one of Mio's pawns. She's controlling the police too, that vixen." She then remembered her time in jail…

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**~Flashback: Ritsu's time in jail~**

Hokago Tea Time's drummer leaned against the wall of the cell she was thrown in, playing 5 Stones with the rocks on the ground, and there were plenty to go around. She got bored quickly, and looked up at the ceiling. The coldness of the floor didn't really help much with her condition. She sat there in her 'Don't Say Lazy' video outfit, wondering 'How did this all go wrong?'

Her thoughts were interrupted though as she heard the footsteps of a few guards, smacking their batons against their hands. They had to make sure the prisoners weren't being too rowdy in the middle of the night, lest they wanted to have their skulls cracked by burly guard's baton.

Ritsu, bored out of her skull by now, threw a rock at one of the guards, hitting him dead in the eye. She chortled as she watched the guard holding his eye in pain, and continued even with the guard glaring at her with his free eye. "What's the big idea, wench! You itchin' for a beatin' or somethin'!" The guard threatened, but the spunkiest member of the HTT wasn't about to be fazed by the guard's threats.

"Why don't you come in here and take your shot? If you dare, that is." The guard was very pissed off at Ritsu and was about to open the door, but someone stepped in to stop him.

"Officer, what seems to be the problem?" Ritsu recognized the voice immediately. She somehow couldn't believe it, but it's someone she trusted, or rather, she used to trust.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Nodoka Madabe." She glared back at the cold, hard stare of the former Sakura High student. "So, who's paying you to be a corrupt officer, hmm?"

"Corrupt?" She said as she pushes her glasses up. "I believe you're mistaken. This city's police force is at its finest. No one is 'paying' us as you say."

"No, no, I believe YOU'RE sorely mistaken. If anything, the police would know there's NO evidence linking me to the tragedy that was the Hokago Tea Time concert. So I was wrongfully turned in to the police. In fact, you guys just blindly grabbed the first person you could, and that was ME… which leads me to believe that SOMEONE might have paid you off to lock me up." But a stomp of the ground from Nodoka attempted to silence her.

"SILENCE!" She bellowed. "I won't have these lies spread by a criminal, Tainaka Ritsu!"

"Ooh, I'm so scared." Ritsu said in a sarcastic manner. "Why don't you come in here and do something about it?" She picked up one of the rocks she was playing with and blatantly threw it at her. It connected with her head without much resistance. This would set off an anger not even known within the halls of Sakura High. Nodoka turned to the guards.

"Officers, please leave immediately." She ordered, which prompted the disgruntled guards to leave the premises immediately. She then took the keys, unlocked Ritsu's cell door and entered, locking it back.

"And suddenly Nodoka wants a piece. What will she do, throw a book at me?" Ritsu was sorely mistaken, as a blatant kick to her stomach made her realize. "U-UNGH!"

"Are you underestimating me, Tainaka Ritsu?" She pushed her glasses up, before immediately punching her in the eye. She continued beating into her over and over.

**0**

"And that's how I even got this eye." Ritsu said. Yui seemed more worried about what's happened with her best friend, Nodoka.

"I-I… I don't believe this at all…"

"Oy, Yui, heads up. One of these days you're gonna have to put her down like the dog that she is." Offended, Yui walked over and slapped Ritsu. The drummer just took the hit, but her expression immediately changed after that.

"Do NOT insult Nodoka like that, Ritsu. She may have done horrible things to you, but she's still my best friend!" A smirk then placed itself on Ritsu's face.

"You got some nerve to be slapping me like that, Yui… I like that. But…" At that moment, she grabs Yui's hand, her grip tightening. "You don't mess with Tainaka Ritsu and get away with it. Now you're gonna find out what the fires of Hell feel like, Yui!"

"Not on your life, Ricchan." Immediately, she grabs her battle fan with her free hand and attempted to slice at Ritsu. Seeing the impending danger, Ritsu immediately let go and pushes Yui away, getting some breathing space.

"Hehehe… this should be interesting." She reaches around her back and takes out a pair of Sais, spinning them around as if she's had them for a long time. "BRING IT ON, YUI HIRASAWA!"

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**To Be Continued**

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Read and review as always


	3. Mio: Desecration

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams**

**By MidniteBleuCrusader**

Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?

Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?

Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

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**Chapter 3: Mio – Desecration**

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'_So I sit here… waiting… waiting for something…'_ She thought to herself. The new 'princess' of all of Japan sat there, head rested in the palm of her hand, bored out of her wits. She tried desperately to do something, but all she could do was bring out a water ball, her element passed down the same way Ritsu's ability came about, and started bouncing it on the wall, catching it in her hand every time.

As she played, so many thoughts came into her mind. All of it mostly about everything's that happened so far; How she became the new 'princess', how it all happened, what had happened during their concert… but one name kept flashing into her mind.

"Ritsu…" She mumbled to herself. It's the one thing she just can't have now. _'She's mine now though… and I'll get her to join me for life…'_ She thought to herself. She's already gotten her best friend cornered and locked up, so nothing could go wrong…

Or so she thought.

She heard footsteps coming up the staircase of her new Tower. She could detect distress, and heard someone panting. Soon she heard a little groan, as if someone had fallen, and then back to normal footsteps again.

"You have bad news, don't you…? Nodoka Manabe?" She didn't bother to turn to the girl with the glasses, who was panting hard from the long stair run.

"G-gee… how did you know?" Then, for some reason, the perspiration on Nodoka's face slowly flew towards Mio's fingers.

"All this… sweat. You've been perspiring a lot… are you nervous, Nodoka?"

"M-me? Nervous? P-please, Mio." But the 'princess' can tell immediately.

"You're not a very good liar, Nodoka." The former student council president knew the jig was up. She couldn't avoid Mio anymore. "So… is Ritsu doing fine, Nodoka? I hope you're treating her well. She IS my best friend after all."

"See… that's the thing I wanted to talk to you about-!" Before she could even conclude, Mio jolted up from her seat, a katana in her right hand and attempted to slash at Nodoka. As an act of self-defense, she managed to parry the 'princess's attack with a weapon of her own; she held in her hands a scythe, and used the middle part of the scythe handle to parry it. "Gh… I guess you're not one to let others finish, aren't you?"

"I know what's going to come out of your mouth, Nodoka, and I am NOT happy with what you're planning to say." Nodoka managed to get a good hold of her scythe in the meantime.

"Well then, stay unhappy, Mio. Ritsu escaped from prison, and I'm doing the best I can to re-capture her!" She then dashed straight for Mi, reeling her scythe back and swings wildly at her, but Mio was too quick, and too skilled, for her, as she quickly jumped over the swing and delivered a beautiful kick to the side of the head of Nodoka, the impact nearly knocking the glasses off of her. The shot sent the student council president flying, but she managed to recover quickly, preparing herself for anything else.

"Hmph… not bad," She then extended her free hand to her side. Soon after, a water blade materialized. She grabbed hold of it and went back into her fighting stance. "But I highly doubt you have enough to defeat me."

"I'm not even here to fight you, Mio… you were the one who attacked me, and I just defended myself." She holds out the scythe, and in a flash of light, the scythe disappears from her hand. Mio then walked up to her and place the tip of the sword at Nodoka's neck. For some reason she didn't feel any sort of nervousness in her this time around.

"Scared, Nodoka? Scared that I might just… lop your head off?" She places her sword at the side of Nodoka's neck, almost attempting to slice it right off.

"I'm not scared of you, Mio." That answer was enough to convince Mio, as she sheathed her sword, turning away from her.

"So… she's escaped."

"I couldn't stop her… she suddenly tried to burn me from the inside with some… witchcraft or something." All Mio did was chuckle.

"Witchcraft… it doesn't even cover what me and Ritsu are cursed with."

"I… I don't see how it's a curse, Mio." The 'Princess' then put on her hooded sweater and started walking off. "I mean… you did this to help, right?"

"Help… you could say that. Though I don't see how it's helping when all you do is making people suffer… and besides, Nodoka, you don't even have this power, so you wouldn't understand how WE'RE suffering right now." After picking up a rucksack, filled with unknown items, she immediately headed into the elevator. "Go home, Nodoka. I'll think about your punishment." As the doors of the elevator shut, Nodoka just looked on, sighing.

"Geez…"

**0**

'_The streets never looked so dead…'_ The 'princess' thought to herself. "Then again, this is what happens in the Dead Hour… everyone disappears… and I'm the only one walking around." She looked around, up and down the tall buildings. All she could see were pictures of her from Mio 'worshippers'. The very fact that she had such people worshipping her baffled the bassist. _'Why?'_ The word keeps echoing in her mind. But now this was no time to think, now was just her time. She walked into an alley, and at the first untouched, empty wall she saw, she stopped, dropped her bag and opened it up. Inside were several cans of purple spray paint. She took one out and shook it up a bit, opening it and started vandalizing the wall with her own 'art'. It might be strange, but this was her way of calming herself.

However, her moment of calm was disrupted when three needle-like objects pierced the wall, one of them right in between Mio's fingers, forcing her to drop the spray paint can. She looked back to find her assailant, who was squatting on the edge of a rooftop. The hair was all too familiar to her.

"So this is what the 'princess' does on her time off, huh? Real classy, 'your majesty'." The assailant said as she jumped down to Mio's level.

"Hmm… Hirasawa's friend, I presume?" She asked.

"You know it, Akiyama Mio… especially since you're the last person who saw her." Mio had that eerie smirk on her face.

"Oho, really now? I'm guessing even Jun the Silent still has a heart."

"Where IS she, Mio?" The jazz guitarist asked, with great restraint to just blatantly punch her.

"Hmm, I'm not sure… last time I checked, I was slapping her around, abusing her AND beating the living Hell out of her." This just infuriated Jun.

"WHY I OUGHTA!" She dashed in to punch her, but Mio caught it like it was nothing. "G-gh!" She tried to pull away, but Mio seems to be too strong for her. The bassist then pulled her in to whisper to her, with that cruel tone she's known for.

"Who knows, Jun… you might be too late to save her, you pathetic worm… she may already be dead." Jun gritted her teeth at those words and aimed a strong knee to her gut, this time connecting with authority. Mio groaned and backed off, giving Jun enough time to pull out her katana.

"I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" She immediately dashed in and swung down on the 'princess', but found herself in a clash of steel soon after, as Mio had drawn her katana as well.

"Well then… I guess you can help me calm down." She grinned, a sign that meant she'll enjoy every little piece of action now. Jun pushed Mio away and backed off a safe distance.

"I don't know what I might be getting myself into, but Hell… I'm not losing to you, not after what you've done!"

"Then come at me, Jun. Come at me with your hatred!"

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**To Be Continued**

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	4. Ruthless Aggression

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams**

**By MidniteBleuCrusader**

Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?

Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?

Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-

Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with cap)

Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit

Mio – No Thank You! Outfit

Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)

Azusa – Listen! Outfit

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**Chapter 4: Ruthless Aggression**

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The cold air from the rain that had passed by was quickly dissipated. The rooftop Yui was on was nothing more than a heat wave waiting to happen, as she kept dodging fireball after fireball, trying to get close to her opponent. That opponent, being the fire-wielding Tainaka Ritsu, didn't seem to stop with her attacks. She kept trying to rush her with countless fireballs, occasionally dashing in to get up close and personal with Yui.

"You've improved since we were last together, Yui. Too bad you're still gonna lose to me!" She said, clashing with Yui's battle fans. Though quite weak of a weapon, Yui managed to hold her own against the much tougher and stronger Ritsu.

"You have nothing to prove by fighting me, Ricchan… but you're still no match for Mio. And insulting my best friend? Now that's crossing the line!" She pushes her off, breaking the deadlock, giving her enough time to fire off a lightning bolt straight out of her hands, a preview of what's to come from Yui Hirasawa. Ritsu, however, was not amused and just dodged it.

"You know what? I take back what I said about you improving. You still suck." With that, she raises her hand. What Yui doesn't notice is that she's standing in the middle of Ritsu's next attack. "SAY GOODNIGHT, CHUMP!" She pulls her hand downwards. A huge beam of fire immediately hits Yui, which then sets off another set of explosions. The lead guitarist tries to use her barrier to block it off, but the explosions proved a bit too much for her and she ends up falling on her back onto the lower roof. Ritsu followed Yui down, landing on her feet. "What, is that all you got, Yui? Really, I'm that bit disappointed."

Yui, with any strength left after that, managed to only support herself on her arms, glaring at the drummer. "T-tch… that took a lot out of me…"

"I'm surprised you withstood the Dancing Flames, but really… you're pretty much done now." Ritsu said, slowly approaching Yui with her Sais. But before she got TOO close, Azusa flew in, using her naginata's range and aimed a downward slash at the drummer. Ritsu caught wind of this at the last second and could only backstep, getting nicked right at her shoulder. "G-gh!"

"Ritsu-senpai… I don't want to hurt you, but don't force me to!" She spins her naginata around, before thumping the ground once with the handle. "Healing wind!" She shouted. Within seconds, a small gust of wind shrouds Yui, healing most of her wounds. The guitarist immediately got up after that.

"Damn, I almost blew it… thanks, Azu-nyan." She said, getting back into her battle stance.

"So… the both of you wanna team up now, huh? Well then!" She spun her Sais around quickly, getting into her battle stance as well. "This is gonna be fun, ain't it?"

"Ricchan, I hate to say this… but you sound JUST LIKE MIO!" Those words lit a spark inside Ritsu. She didn't want to hear that name again, less if it was used to compare Ritsu to Mio.

"WHAT? DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ME TO THAT LITTLE BRAT! AND I DON'T EVEN WANNA HEAR IT FROM YOU, YUI!" In a fit of rage, she blasted a straight fire blast toward Yui.

"Yui-senpai, look out!" Azusa jumped in to protect her senpai, but she ended up taking the full brunt of the fireblast. "AAAGH!" She groaned in pain, the blast scorching her, burning parts of her outfit. "N-ngh…" All Yui did was look in shock at what Ritsu had done to Azusa, but that look of shock immediately turned into a sharp glare, as rage began to fill up the young guitarist; a rage uncommon to both members of the HTT.

"Ricchan… now it's you who's made the mistake…" It's become apparent that she's angry, as she's charged up electricity in her body, perhaps too much in Azusa's eyes.

"Y-Yui-senpai… y-you didn't…!" Before she could finish her sentence, Yui summoned her guitar, aptly named Gitah, but the side of it had the words 'L. Gitah' carved on it. Azusa feared the worst.

"This… THIS IS IT!" Yui strummed on the guitar just once, and with that loud strum, she sent a massive electrical surge straight for Ritsu, who wasn't prepared for THIS much electrical energy to be sent out.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She yelled in pain. The shocks rocked every fiber in her body. She felt as if she might die. The shocks soon stopped, and Ritsu fell flat on her face, charred from the lightning bolts.

"And that's… why you don't… mess with me…" Yui then dropped to her knees, and was about to fall flat, until Azusa managed to get back up to prevent her from doing so.

"H-hey! Yui-senpai, stay with me!" She tried to bring Yui back to consciousness, but she had used too much of her power to summon the guitar and to summon up that much electricity. Both Yui and Ritsu fought hard, but both of them ended up unconscious.

**0**

On the other side, however, Jun had to contend with the most intimidating stare she's ever faced. She held her katana tightly, trembling slightly. She's facing the 'princess' of Japan, so the stakes were automatically high… especially when her life has been put on the cards.

"Just so you know, Jun…" Mio's voice almost shook up the jazz guitarist. "You are making a big mistake facing me."

"I don't need you to tell me my mistakes." She gets into her fighting stance. Mio almost seems as if she doesn't care. Jun immediately dashed right for her, swinging her katana wildly at Mio. All the 'princess' did was put up a token resistance, parrying everything Jun threw at her. It was as if she was… bored. As soon as she parried another slash from Jun, she pushed her away with such force, forcing Jun into the wall.

"G-gh! Sheesh…" As an insult to Jun's ability, Mio yawned.

"How particularly boring, Jun Suzuki… is that all you've got?" Mio said, just toying around with her own katana. Jun gritted her teeth, throwing a kunai at her in a fit of rage, followed by a quick dash right at her again. This time, Mio knocked the kunai away, and decided to meet Jun head on. They clashed swords, forcing a deadlock.

"T-tch… what does the 'princess' plan to do with this city, at THIS hour even!"

"That's none of your concern, Jun." Jun immediately broke the deadlock and quickly tried to disarm Mio in a quick move, locking her arm and immobilizing her wielding arm, but she noticed something on the hilt of Mio's katana.

'_Roman numeral…? Wait, she's a…!'_ Before she could complete her thought, Mio back-elbowed her in the stomach, causing Jun to fumble backwards. This gave Mio enough time to conjure up and fire off 3 ice needles at Jun. She didn't have enough time to recover and took all 3 shots right to her body. The pain of both the sting of the needles and the coldness of the ice forced Jun to fall to her knees. "S-shoot… this hurts… ow…" Mio wasn't done, however, as she kicked Jun in the head as hard as she could. Her ruthlessness showed further as she stomped her opponent all over her body, arms and legs. The damage done was substantial. Mio had a head full of anger and cruelty with every blow she inflicted on Jun. All Jun could do was writhe in pain with every shot she felt.

"If you want to know so badly… then why don't you come back once you've gotten enough training? With your level of ability, I doubt you can even beat Ritsu." Jun just lay there, hurt all over the place, bleeding slightly from her mouth, as she watched the 'princess' walk off. Her victory was sound; she didn't have to break a sweat against Jun. The guitarist rolled over, looking up into the sky. Even in her state, she still had time to ponder.

"Gh… I guess I don't have what it takes to beat her… sorry, Ui…" The Roman numeral that she saw earlier flashed in her thoughts. '_So she's a Number too… huh? That means…'_ She looked at the hilt of her katana, showing the Roman numeral 'IX'. "She's… just like us… Ui…" She then shut her eyes, the pain too much for her as she lost consciousness…

Mio, fresh off her victory, returned to her Tower's rooftop, the wind blowing against her long, smooth hair. She stared at the numeral found on the hilt of her katana, 'IV'. _'I don't get it… what the Hell do you want me to do!'_ She sheathed her katana before returning back inside. "…Nodoka, you didn't go home?" She found the bespectacled officer sitting down in the guest area. Nodoka jolted up from her seat at the sound of Mio's voice.

"M-Ms. Mio… well… the station got locked, and… well… I left my key inside so… I don't have a place to sleep tonight." Mio just sighed, tired from her outing.

"Fine… just use one of the guest's quarters. Just clean it up in the morning once you're done, okay? We have business to attend to." Mio said as she took off her hoodie, tossing it aside and sat back down on her throne.

"Y-yes, ma'am." Nodoka said, trudging off to her quarters. Mio was still in deep thought, looking at the numeral on her katana again.

"Four… huh, I don't get you at all, really." She just tossed the katana aside and shut her eyes, falling asleep at her throne soon after…

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	5. Sister, Wherefore Art Thou?

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.  
A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit  
**0  
Chapter 5: Sister, wherefore art thou?**

**0**

Azusa Nakano was frantic, as she had to take care of two masses of dead weight. How she dragged them both to Yui's house was beyond her belief. She laid them both on different couches just so they don't get at each other in their sleep. She sighed heavily. "Ritsu-senpai… Yui-senpai… I swear the both of you are dumb sometimes." She decided to get a drink for herself, after nearly breaking her back just to drag them both back to the house. She got herself a glass of water and waited for one of them to wake up, clenching her naginata tightly in the very case that it was Ritsu who woke up first, just so she couldn't start anything.

As she predicted, Ritsu was the first to regain her consciousness. Luckily, Azusa had taken the necessary precautions, and by precautions, meaning she pointed her naginata at Ritsu before the drummer could do anything.

"Wow, you sure know how to wake someone up…" She looks over at the still-unconscious Yui. "You mind putting that thing down? I'm not gonna hurt Yui… seriously, I'm not."

"How can I trust your words after what you've done?" Ritsu just sighed. She couldn't bring herself to utter the word 'Sorry' to her.

"Look, I'm not even in any mood to fight… so you mind not giving me this attitude now, Azusa?" Ritsu said, rather dejectedly. Azusa then relented, letting go of her naginata.

"Fine… I'll trust you… for now." The drummer then looked at Yui, who's still knocked out after what she did to her.

"I guess… I got beat, huh…? That sucks." Ritsu said, hanging her head. "Still… how'd you get so much power in that body of yours, Yui… and then… that guitar…"

"It's a mystery to me, too, Ritsu-senpai… I'm not even sure how or when she got that guitar. All I know is, she's still new to using her electricity… and if she doesn't control it, she'll just go berserk with it. That's why I'm here… to help her control her powers."

"Then she knows about this Hour too… right?" Ritsu asked, curiously.

"I'm sure she knows about this Hour." Azusa nodded, sitting back down on her chair. "Ritsu-senpai... here." She passes the drummer a tube of medication. "This'll bring the swelling down."

"Thanks…" She grabs the tube out of Azusa's hands, unscrewing the cap and starts applying it to her swollen eye. As she applied it for the first time, she felt a mighty sting. "Ow!" She groaned, continuing to apply it slowly. She turned her attention back to Yui, who lay solemnly in her state of unconsciousness. "It always worries me every time she has to sleep this long… really. I might almost think she's d-"Before she could continue, Azusa had placed a finger on Ritsu's lip.

"Don't say it, Ritsu-senpai… I wouldn't want to jinx it if I were you."

"Right, sorry… say, could you get me a drink, Azusa? My throat's parched as Hell… no pun intended." She asked, grinning a bit. Azusa just chuckled at the pun, heading back to the kitchen and poured her a glass of water. Ritsu's eyesight did not peer away from her downed leader. "Yui…" She mumbled. Her mind wandered as she replayed what had happened to her days earlier, along with what happened between her and Yui.

She was snapped quickly out of her daydream when she saw Yui's first sign of life since that fight. "Ngh…" She stirred, supporting herself with her elbows. "W-what happened…?"

"Good morning. Or should I say evening, Yui?" Ritsu greeted.

"R-Ricchan…? Where am I…?" She looks around, immediately recognizing her surroundings. "My… house… how'd I get here?"

"I dragged you here, Yui-senpai." Azusa responded, returning with Ritsu's drink. Yui smiled at her, but her smile was quickly erased when Azusa went over to smack Yui in the face, hard at that. "Next time, don't FORGET to take your suppressants ever again! Do you know what would've happened if you lost control of your powers again?" Azusa yelled, though in her harsh words, she had much concern for her senpai than anything. Yui could notice the tears Azusa tried to hold back.

"Okay, okay, I get it, Azu-nyan. You sound just like my mother, seriously." She rolled her eyes, which somewhat annoyed Azusa. Over on the other couch, Ritsu just let out a chuckle.

"Hehe, Azusa's turning into a mother at her age." Ritsu joked, which upped the level of annoyance.

"S-shut it! I-I had to drag the both of you all the way here, you know that?"

"Okay, okay, relax; we're just playing with you, Azusa." Ritsu said. Then, she turned her attention to the room, and noticed something was amiss. "Hey… where's Ui?" The room immediately fell silent. Yui's brightened mood quickly turned into a frown, and all Azusa did was just smack her own forehead in disbelief. "…what? What'd I say?"

"I'm… gonna go to the bathroom…" Yui said, feeling rather crestfallen as she got up and walked off. Ritsu just had a perplexed look on her face, as if she did something taboo in this house that she didn't know of.

"W-what? What'd I do THAT time?" Ritsu asked, still confused. Azusa sat next to Ritsu, before administering a hard punch right to her face. "Ow! Okay, I deserved that, but not TOO hard!"

"Ritsu-senpai… it's official, you really are an idiot."

"Well you could TELL me next time, Azusa! I've been locked up for so long, so you could tell me!" Ritsu said, aggravated and annoyed at the lack of information of the recent events.

"Fine… I'll tell you, but once I do… promise me you'll NEVER speak of it in front of Yui ever again. Don't even MENTION her name, capiche?" Ritsu nodded in agreement. Azusa then sighed in relief. "All right… this is how it went…"

**0**

_~Flashback~_

_Yui and I went training, to keep our powers in check. We spent most of the day out, so we didn't know what went on here at home… but the moment we got home, though…_

"Ui, we're home!" Yui shouted.

_It was dark that night. We trained for hours on end, non-stop without any sort of breaks. I knew something was wrong immediately… Ui hadn't turned on the lights yet._

"…Ui? Where are you?" Azusa asked, worriedly.

"Why aren't the lights on?" Yui wondered, as she switched on the lights, illuminating the house. However, Ui was nowhere in sight.

"Hmm… she must be in the kitchen, I'll go look." Azusa wandered into the kitchen, but Yui saw something amiss… right near Ui's room door.

Blood.

"…A-AZU-NYAN! GET OVER HERE!" At the sound of Yui's shriek, Azusa quickly ran toward it. She saw the same blood pool Yui saw. The trail didn't stop, however. The blood pool led straight into Ui's room. Every fear of what could be behind the door dwelled in Yui's body. She was shaken at the sight of the blood pool, until she opened the door, where she saw something a lot more horrifying.

_The moment Yui opened the door… she cried out in fear. She saw her own sister… drenched in a pool of her own blood. Yui was seriously frantic at this point… but we came back late… right in the middle of the Dead Hour…_

**0**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it." Ritsu interjected Azusa. "You mean to tell me you found Ui during the Dead Hour? That means…" She let out a slight gasp. "Ui can walk in this Hour! She didn't disappear?"

"Unfortunately… that's the hateful truth." This time, however, it was Ritsu's turn to go uptight.

"No… no way. You're telling me Ui can walk the Dead Hour just like you, me and Yui! Come on, man, that's just wrong! Ui doesn't deserve this kind of treatment, damn it!"

"I understand how you feel, Ritsu. But it's not like we can choose who can or can't walk the Dead Hour. If Fate reared its ugly head on Ui, then there's not much we can do." Ritsu, out of pure anger and frustration, punched the wall hard, nearly cracking it.

"GOD, DAMN IT ALL!"

"Ritsu, calm down… I know as much as you do, you didn't want it to be like this. I don't know why it's gone down this way but it has, so it's best we cool our heads down and accept it." Azusa advised which only led to Ritsu just sitting back down onto the chair, still frustrated at the turn of events.

"What… happened after you found her body?" Ritsu asked, seething.

"…Luckily, the Dead Hour ended just as we found her… so we patched up any wounds we could and sent her to the hospital. Though… a week ago… the doctors said she escaped the hospital."

"That's it, huh? Damn…" Ritsu just hung her head, in awe of the news.

"So far… any traces of Ui's presence have been erased… I can't detect her at all. She hasn't made her power known to me and Yui."

"So what, that's it? You're not gonna even look for her? She's your best friend, and Yui's sister DAMN IT!" At that point, Azusa jolted up from her seat, incensed by Ritsu's words.

"Do you think we don't care at all!" But, before the argument could escalate any further, Azusa's cell phone rang. The interruption was timely, for it diffused what could've been an explosive situation. "…Tch." She answered the phone. "Hello?" She said. A few seconds of silence fell before… "JUN? Jun, you can walk in this Hour too? Wait, where are you? You sound hurt!" She listened in on what Jun had to say. "Okay, I'll get to you as soon as possible!" She hung up and pocketed her phone quickly. "That was Jun. She can walk the Dead Hour too, but she's hurt. I'm gonna go bring her back here. You keep watch over Yui, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Ritsu replied, still slightly pissed off. Azusa picked up her naginata and headed out the door. Ritsu then turned around, to find Yui just returning from a long trip to the bathroom. "Yui… look, I'm…"

"It's okay, Ricchan… I know what you're gonna say." Ritsu went up to her and clasped Yui's hands together, knowing it's not 'okay' at all. "R-Ricchan?"

"Yui… I'm sorry for acting like a total idiot just now… now that I've heard everything… I want to help you. I'll be by your side whenever you need me, Yui…" She pulled Yui in for a tight embrace. The guitarist was taken aback by Ritsu's actions now. "We'll… find Ui… we'll get her back into this house… so that you two can be happily reunited… I won't give up till we find her… got it?"

"Ricchan… heh… of course we'll find her, Ricchan. I haven't lost hope yet… and looks like you haven't either. I'm proud to have a bandmate… and a friend like you, Ricchan." Hearing those words brought tears to the drummer's eyes, which was quite uncharacteristic to Ritsu's nature.

"O-oh, Yui… stop trying to make me cry, damn it. I won't do it for you." She said, slowly pulling away.

"You, cry? If you did that I might've thought you've gone soft on me." Yui said, patting her friend on her back. She glanced around to find Azusa not present. "Okay… so, Azusa went to look for Jun, right? We'll wait for Jun to be here, then we'll decide our next course of action."

"Roger… leader."

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	6. Lost One

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 6: Lost One**

Yui and Ritsu waited for at least an hour before Azusa returned. When the 2nd guitarist did come home, she had Jun around her shoulders, barely conscious after her little run-in with Mio. Azusa set her down on the couch, checking her body temperature by feeling her forehead and neck area with her palm.

"Tch… she's cold… at this rate, she'll get hypothermia." Azusa analyzed. "Yui-senpai, I need hot water and a towel, quick!"

"Got it!" Yui responded, turning straight to the bathroom to get some hot water.

"…So Mio got to her." Ritsu said, clenching her fist. "How many more of us is she gonna hurt, huh?"

"To be honest, Ritsu-senpai… I don't even know what'll happen next." Azusa said, resting Jun properly such that she's comfortable. Yui returned to the living room with the hot towel and hot water.

"Here, Azu-nyan." She hastily passed the items to Azusa, who then quickly administered care to her friend.

"Now… we wait. Her temperature should stop falling, and her body should stabilize." She assessed, but before anything happened, Jun managed to stir from her barely conscious state.

"U-ungh… A-Azusa…?" She called out, trying to get up, but Azusa forced her back down.

"Now's not the time for you to talk. You're cold, and if you move any more, your hypothermia could be your downfall. So please, rest." Jun scoffed for a bit, but she knew this was for her own good, so she went back to rest.

It took a full hour before Jun could move without worry of her temperature dropping again. She sat up from where she was, slowly, just to make sure she wasn't hurt anymore. The first thing she saw was the rather concerned look on Azusa's face. "Azusa, what did I tell you about putting on that worry face?"

"Simple, I actually AM worried about you. I REALLY thought you were dead when I found you!" She said, in an exasperated tone. She still has not rested since bringing her here, so that's why she got so cranky.

"Azusa, calm down, please. All she did was throw ice bullets into my chest and hit me a bunch of times. No big deal, really." Azusa just sighed, displeased. "Really though… there are things I need to tell you all."

"What things, Jun?" Yui asked, interested.

"It's something me and Azusa know… did you tell them, Azusa?" Azusa felt the stares of Ritsu and Yui.

"No… I didn't think it was relevant."

"…Azusa, it IS relevant… it has to do with the Dead Hour as well." This came to the attention of Ritsu.

"Seriously? Azusa… what have you been keeping from us?"

"It's not her fault… maybe it's best we let you know right now… so far, only me, Azusa and Ui have figured it out. It's only fair we tell you right now." Azusa went to sit next to Jun, while Jun got herself comfortable. She knew this was going to be a long explanation.

"So you two know something… about the Dead Hour?" Yui asked.

"Well… we don't know much about the Dead Hour itself, but I did find one common factor about the people who CAN walk the Hour. Ritsu-senpai, Yui-senpai, I want you to take your weapons out." The two seniors looked at each other, before shrugging and showed Jun their weapons. The jazz guitarist inspected the weapons, starting with Yui's battle fans. She then looked over Ritsu's sais. "I knew it…" She said in slight amazement.

"What?" Ritsu asked.

"You two have them too… the Roman Numeral on your weapons. Ritsu… you're the 5th and Yui, you're the 2nd… you're both Numbers too!" Ritsu had that confounded look on her face.

"I'm sorry… 'Numbers'?"

"That's… the label we've decided to give to people who have those numerals and those who can walk the Dead Hour. I confirmed that when Mio was able to walk the Dead Hour too. She had the numeral of 4 on her katana."

"Gee, as if I didn't know that." Ritsu said, sarcastic demeanor evident in her voice.

"So… let me get this straight." Yui said, stepping in to connect the dots. "You don't know much about the Dead Hour, correct?"

"No, Azusa and I don't know much about it." Jun confirmed.

"But what you do know is that the people who CAN walk the Dead Hour have a Roman numeral etched into their weapon."

"Not only that," Azusa interrupted. "But the people who can walk the Dead Hour have a special power born inside them to fight in this Hour. For example, I have my wind spells. Jun here follows the way of the Kunoichi. Yui has lightning, Ritsu has fire. All of these powers… we were given these to battle within the Dead Hour."

"Yeah… still, we need to know. What are we fighting for? Who's our enemy?" Yui said, pointing out all their objectives now. She knew now. People in the Dead Hour have a weapon, engraved with a Roman numeral on it. Along with that, they possess some sort of special power to fight in this Hour. Yui also took in this factor; there are now, including Mio and Ui, 6 people who walk the Dead Hour… of course, this is what she thought.

However, Jun had more to tell.

"There's more, however… and it seems a lot graver than what my people have told me." Jun's serious tone caught wind of the rest of the room. "It seems… there's a Number close to losing their will."

"…huh?" Azusa asked, interested. "There's someone close to losing their will… meaning they haven't awakened to their power yet?"

"Yes. If we don't do something… she'll disappear from this Hour… and this world." The two seniors, having heard this, knew their mission hadn't been limited to just facing Mio, and they inquired.

"Who? We'll save them from disappearing from this world." Yui asked first.

"Yeah, I mean… sure, they have to go through this hour like us, but we're not gonna let them disappear from the world entirely." Ritsu said that bit more confidently.

"All right… you guys better be ready for this." The current members of the HTT nodded, listening in.

"Just give us the name… we'll figure things out from there."

Jun took a minute to take in a slight breath of air, before uttering the name.

"Kotobuki Tsumugi."

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	7. Altered Shadows

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 7: Altered Shadows**

The crew of Yui Hirasawa, Tainaka Ritsu, Jun Suzuki and Azusa Nakano reached their destination; a cold suburban area in the South of Tokyo. Yui had an extra winter scarf just so she wouldn't get TOO cold. For once, Mio wasn't to blame for the change in surroundings.

"Here it is…" Jun said, standing in front of the gate of what looks like a run-down apartment. The roof hadn't been fixed, or preferably, shoddily fixed with just two pieces of 2-by-4's nailed to fill up the gap.

"…Sure looks inviting, huh?" Ritsu joked, which prompted Azusa to elbow Ritsu's hip. "Ow! What?"

"This is not the time for sarcasm, Ritsu. One of our friends is in there… and if we don't help her, she's done for." Azusa said. The dark tone didn't help ease Ritsu's mind.

"Shut it, Azusa… I don't need a reminder for our mission."

"We're not letting her disappear." Yui reassured. "I'd rather die than let Mugi-chan disappear from this Hour AND the world. If we can help her awaken to her power, she might just be a great asset to this team."

"You kidding, Yui? She's always welcome to this team."

"…You're right about that, but it wouldn't matter if she's gone from this world." Yui said as she opened the gate.

**0**

_~Flashback~_

"WHAT?" Ritsu screamed out, after hearing the name of the one in danger belonging to one of her friends.

"It's true. Tsumugi-senpai's the one who's about to disappear." Jun said firmly, pissing Ritsu off further.

"You'd best be screwing with me, Jun! Your people can't be right! It can't be Mugi who's disappearing!"

"Unfortunately… it's true. Tsumugi's the unlucky one to disappear should she not awaken to her power. Word is… the Shadows have started roaming."

"Shadows? Like… what we see in cartoons and all that?" Yui asked.

"Sorry, you're not gonna be so lucky once you see them. They attack any humans close to them and steal a piece of their heart, eradicating defenseless humans from living the Dead Hour. The problem WE'RE facing now is that someone might have taken control over the Shadows. I fear they're forcing them to do more than just stealing a heart piece from everyone." Jun explained.

"So those were the creatures that attacked me while I came to rescue you…" Azusa pondered. "Still, they were easy to face. They're just pretty small, and some looked like mini toy soldiers."

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. Let me see if I get this right… these 'Shadows' are attacking people so that… they can rid people of the Dead Hour? That makes sense. Why not we just get attacked by these Shadows and be on our merry way? I mean…" That's when Jun cut her off.

"Sure, if you like being a zombie in the next life." The fear of the drummer becoming a zombie somewhat shocked her.

"E-ehehe… well, I guess… wait… you mean to say anyone who got their heart piece stolen is gonna end up a zombie?"

"Well… only the people who existed in the Dead Hour, which means only a select few. Surprisingly, some of these people weren't ever recognized as Numbers, which intrigues me." Jun continued, resting her chin on her hand.

"So Mugi-chan's in danger… anyone know her location now?" Yui added, trying to veer away from the topic at hand.

"What I heard is that Mugi-senpai's family got robbed, so they're left with nothing. After that… her family disowned her. She's probably left to live the streets." Azusa said, having a fearful tone.

"Can you believe the nerve of some people?" Jun said, annoyed.

"Yeah… imagine what Mugi-chan's gone through. Walking the Hour alone, trying to figure out why people suddenly disappear after Midnight, and then immediately coming back to normal after it's over… can she even live like that day by day?" Yui, even in confident manner, was worried for her keyboardist.

"Yui-senpai…" Azusa's feeling of worry turned to Yui now.

"Hey hey, now's not the time to mope. We've got a job to do, you know? We gotta save Tsumugi." Ritsu said, raising her arm up confidently. "We're gonna save her from going 'poof' from the Dead Hour!"

"The way you put it makes it sound like we're already given up." Azusa joked.

"You sound so inspiring right now, Azusa." Ritsu retorted.

"So when should we go search for her?" Yui asked Jun.

"Probably any time outside the Dead Hour. If Tsumugi-senpai finds us in the Dead Hour, she might think we're Shadows too."

"And do you know where she lives now?"

"From what I've heard, she lives in a remote, desolate area South of Tokyo. Someone must've taken her in." Yui stood up after that.

"All right. Tomorrow, we search for Mugi-chan. And then we'll do our best to help her awaken to her power." She said, conveying the message to rally the rest of the team.

"You got it, Yui-senpai!" Azusa nodded.

"Hey, I've got your back on this one." Ritsu said confidently.

"Good. Now get some sleep, you'll need it for tomorrow." Yui said as she turned to head straight for her room.

**0**

"Why in every fiber of my body is telling me that I've seen this house?" Ritsu asked, slightly worried.

"Maybe it's your stomach talking. You might just need to eat." Azusa said, albeit nonchalantly.

"I'm not kidding, damn it. I think I've seen this house before." Ritsu said as the group walked towards the door. Yui knocked on the door twice.

"We'll see who it is, and then you'll know, Ritsu." Though, even after a few seconds of waiting, there was no answer. Yui knocked again. Still no answer after a few seconds. The only thing they felt was a slight breeze that shook the door. "No one home… should we try again later-!" Ritsu shoved Yui out of the way.

"LOOK OUT!" Suddenly the door smashed open, and Ritsu ended up eating what looked like a straight barrage of air slashes, in tornado form. She took the full brunt of it and fell backwards. "GH!"

"RICCHAN!" Yui yelled as she and the gang got their weapons out.

"That was a wind attack! Let me handle this!" Azusa said, running in front with her naginata at the ready.

"WAIT, AZU-NYAN!" Yui decided to step in, holding Azusa off. The figure that just blasted Ritsu into the distance slowly emerged from beyond the house, holding on to a handle of a sword.

"I don't know who you kids are, but you better have a good reason for knocking on my door." The woman, with tied up long hair with the ends of her hair all over the place, in a white shirt, one-part jeans and cowgirl boots, said to them. Yui had to keep her guard up at all times in case the woman tried to do something else.

"Wait! Hold on, we just want to talk!" But the woman seemed adamant on not hearing them out.

"You people work for Mio, right? I'll have you blasted out of here in no time." Ritsu, getting slightly ticked by the minute, jumped up and dashed right for the woman, her Sais literally blazing. The woman was well prepared though, as she got her sword out quickly.

"NANASEN!" She screamed as she brought the sword down to the ground, creating that huge tornado of air slashes that ripped the ground easily. Ritsu had to be fast to dodge it, in which she looked as though she did. She didn't, however, count for the fact that the tornado curled upon her and went for her instead of away, which led to the drummer eating another barrage of the air slashes, sending her tumbling back again. The woman then sheathed her sword and sighed. "…hmph, I see you still need more training, Tainaka Ritsu."

"Wait… you know Ricchan?"

"Ow… wait a sec. The only person who calls me by my full name-! KANZAKI KAORI!" Ritsu screamed from her downed position. The rest were just stunned for a bit, trying to understand the relationship between these two.

"Uhhh… okay?" Azusa said, slightly shocked.

"Ritsu-senpai… do you really have that many friends?" Jun asked.

"She isn't a friend. She's more like my rival!" Ritsu yelled as she recovered and rejoined the rest of the gang.

"Rival? Really, I haven't considered you as one yet." Kaori teased, which only made Ritsu fume a bit more.

"Screw you, Kaori." Ritsu snapped back.

"Now if you've got more than just insults for me, you'd better tell me why you're here." This was when, before Ritsu could go any more back and forth with Kaori, Yui stepped in.

"We're looking for someone. We believe she might be staying at your place. Do you know a girl named Kotobuki Tsumugi?" She asked.

"I know who you're talking about… come in." Kaori invited as she went back into the house, the rest of the band following. The interior didn't look all that glamorous. It looked pretty run-down from the girls' point-of-view. "OY, TSUMUGI, THERE'S SOMEONE HERE TO SEE YOU!"

The girls heard footsteps from the other room, getting louder as she gets close. She opened the door to the living room and there stood the keyboardist of the HTT, panting away as if she's done a lot of heavy work.

"What do you need me for, Kanzaki-sa-! Oh my god… it's…"

"It's good to see you again… Mugi-chan…"

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	8. Tsumugi: My Heart

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 8: Tsumugi – My Heart**

_Would you believe me if I said that a day consists of more than 24 hours? _– Shuji Ikutsuki, Persona 3

The girls took their seats, invited by Kanzaki Kaori, a resident who moved from a distant city… or at least that's what Ritsu happened to tell the gang when she was asked about how the two of them met.

"I'm serious! She ended up attacking me for NO REASON!" Ritsu told the story, which got a few chuckles from the rest of the girls, but most of it coming from Kaori.

"Trust me, I beat you easily."

"It was the first time I fought you, you idiot!" the drummer replied angrily, almost as if she wanted to start a fight right there and then. It raised a few laughs from the rest of the crew. It had been awhile since they could ever laugh or talk like this together. Yui had a minor flashback of the days they spent in the music room… of course, back then, Mio was amongst them, and they weren't trying to kill each other.

The laughter died down slowly as Tsumugi returned, with a tray and her tea set, somewhat dusty with some black patches of dirt. She set it down onto the table and poured them all some tea into the tea cups, again, somewhat dirtied. The room took on a more serious note and everything was back to business.

"So… what exactly did you come here for? It can't be for more than just Tsumugi, right?" Kaori asked, sipping her tea.

"Actually, it's all about Mugi-chan. Word is, if we don't help her awaken to her power tonight… well, it's been predicted she'll disappear, from this hour AND this world." Tsumugi almost sank in her seat after hearing from Yui what might happen to her.

"Really? And I take it that the Shadows will be responsible?"

"Yes… or at least that's what Jun's 'organization' has told us." Yui said whilst sipping her tea. "It seems someone managed to manipulate the Shadows and alter them."

"Is this part of Mio's doing?" Yui pondered for a bit.

"As of now, we don't have much evidence to go on, so we can only assume that."

"What're you talking about?" Ritsu interrupted. "Who's the only person out her trying to kill us? We don't NEED evidence. We only need to take down Mio and this stupid Hour will be gone!"

"Ricchan, please. We don't even know that it's Mio. Besides, we only know there are 6 of us Numbers. There could be more than we know of, so we can't just easily jump to conclusions." Taking these words into account, Ritsu subdued herself, though the feeling of anger was still present.

"Yeah yeah… as usual."

"Don't give me that tone, Ricchan." Yui said firmly to her.

"ANYWAY," Azusa had to break it up before something ELSE happened. "I'm curious to know. How did Tsumugi-senpai end up here?"

"A couple of thugs chased her all the way here. When I found her, she was stripped to nothing but her bra and panties. I knew what'd happen if I let it go on, and even in this part of town, it was completely disgraceful, so I had to jump in and knocked them both out. I let her stay here in exchange for her services." Kaori explained, with Yui understanding what Tsumugi had been through.

"It must've been hard, after you've been dumped by your own family… and then this." Azusa added.

"I-it's fine…" Tsumugi stuttered, still slightly traumatized. "I-if it wasn't for Kaori-san… I think I might not have stood a chance out there again…"

"It's okay, Mugi-chan. That's why we're here for you." Yui turned her attention Kaori. "If I may, Kaori-san, I'd like to take Mugi-ch-… I mean, Tsumugi, back to our place. We want to help her awaken to her power as soon as possible." Kaori nodded her head, turning to Tsumugi.

"Pack your bags. You're leaving with them." On that note, Tsumugi headed straight back to her room, with a smile on her face. And no wonder. First, she's met her friends for the first time since 'that day', and now she's going to start living with them. The swordswoman turned back to Yui. "I trust you'll take care of her from now on… I have no doubts you can help to awaken her power."

"It'll be done, or else I'd have failed as a friend." She said determinedly. That put a smile on Kaori's face.

"Then I can at least sleep at night knowing Tsumugi's in good hands." The keyboardist came down to the living room with her heavy suitcase, the same way Kaori found her. "Uy… that huge suitcase again?"

"Sorry, Kaori-san… all of these is my keepsakes. I can't just part with them." Tsumugi said, 'petting' her suitcase.

"Well… fine, whatever. It's your stuff anyway." Kaori said, shrugging.

"And we'd better get outta here soon… 5 minutes to the Dead Hour." The group turned to look at the clock, and true enough, it was 11:55pm.

"…and we happen to live on the other SIDE of Tokyo." Azusa added, and knowing that fact, the girls knew they were going to be in the midst of the Dead Hour.

"That's just great." Yui then turned to Kaori. "Kaori-san, I suggest you head straight to the safest room in the house. And stay there, please."

"All right, you guys be careful." Kaori headed back up to her room. Yui went back to her crew to have a little briefing.

"Okay, you know the drift, right? All the Shadows are going to target Mugi-chan. You guys have to fend them off as much as possible until we get there. If anyone's in trouble, help them out, okay?" The group nodded. Grabbing their assurance, she turned her attention to Tsumugi. "Mugi-chan… first of all, it's good to see you back. Second of all, these Shadows are VERY dangerous… because they've been altered big time. I want you to stay out of harm's way at all costs. If you get separated, run and find the safest place you can go to."

"R-right…" The rest of the girls prepped up, holding their weapons firmly. They knew that the moment the clock struck twelve they were in for a pinch. Yui opened the door and headed out, leading the crew back to the house. Kaori looked on from her room window as they left.

"Good luck out there… Tsumugi." The clock struck twelve, the chimes from her clock echoing from the living room, and Kaori was no longer at her window…

"It's twelve." Azusa informed them. "Those Shadows are gonna come around anytime soon, so let's make this quick."

"All right, we need to get home as quickly as we can… LET'S GO!"

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	9. Fated Awakening

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 9: Fated Awakening**

The shade of oozing green was ominous, as it usually signaled the Dead Hour. No one was around, as usual, and rightfully so, since no one wants to be around in this Hour. No one would have survived the dangers within this Hour… not unless your names were Yui Hirasawa, Tainaka Ritsu, Azusa Nakano and Jun Suzuki. They had no choice but to trudge through this horrid Hour. And now with Tsumugi on board, they had to make it back to the Hirasawa household unscathed… though that was easier said than done.

Azusa darted in front first, to check the road ahead at the junction to make sure the coast was clear. She scanned the area as quick as she could, then signal with a thumbs-up motion. This prompted the rest of the crew to quickly move ahead whilst making sure Tsumugi didn't stray off. But just as they did, though, Ritsu saw something just behind Azusa.

"AZUSA! LOOK OUT!" When Azusa turned around, she saw 3 huge shadows, all about ready to pounce on her and squish her.

"Oh no you don't!" Thinking quickly, Azusa managed to launch one of them off at the last minute with her naginata, jumping up and then knocking that one into the other two, destroying all 3 at the same time. "Well… that takes care of that. Those shadows are starting to get persistent."

"Really, you don't say?" Ritsu said, as she has a small Shadow stabbed on the tip of one of her Sais. The Shadow disappeared after suffering enough.

"Ritsu-senpai, that's just disgusting." Azusa said after what she witnessed.

"Well, sorry. I'm not the easily sickened one." Ritsu spun her Sai for a moment.

"Guys, this is no time to stop and smell the roses. We gotta get Mugi-chan safe and sound to my place." Yui interrupted, but Ritsu can notice the fizzle she's made with her hands.

"Oh shut it. You fried 20 of them with your bare hands just now."

"It was out of self-defense. They were going after Mugi-chan, I had to do something." Yui's focus was interrupted by a sword slash. She looked over Ritsu's shoulder to see Jun slicing another 2 Shadows in one slice.

"If you two have time to talk, you two have time to move and fight." Jun said, sheathing her sword back.

"…God damn Kunoichi, making all that wisdom crap." Ritsu scoffed.

"Those were barely Confucius level lines, Ritsu. Get a grip." Yui said, walking along.

"…Easy for you to say." Ritsu looked back to see Tsumugi trailing behind. "OY! MUGI! Stop standing around and hurry it up!" She shouted which nearly jolted the keyboardist. It was easy to tell that Tsumugi was still new to this Hour, so it was no surprise to Ritsu that she'd be quaking in her heels.

"S-sorry, Ritsu." She apologized, before running back to the group, but just as she nearly reached Ritsu, a bunch of soldier-type Shadows appeared. "GYAAH!" She screamed.

"God, this is annoying!" Ritsu jumped in front of Tsumugi to protect her.

"B-behind us!" Tsumugi called out, noting the soldier Shadows surrounding them both.

"That just pisses me off!" Ritsu said, flaring up. Her whole body now had a red aura surrounding her. "Tsumugi, whatever you do, DON'T move." Ritsu breathed in for a second as the soldier Shadows started closing in on Tsumugi. She had anxiety in her now, waiting for Ritsu to even do something about them. She knew they were targeting her, but she had to do what she was instructed and that was not to move at all.

"Uhh, Ritsu, any time now!" Tsumugi pressured her, all worried that Ritsu might not do anything.

"…NOW!" In a split second, Ritsu jumps up into the air, engulfing herself in flames and then starts discharging flame shots all over the place, but mostly targeted at the shadows. In one fell swoop, all the shadows were hit hard and disappeared, dying off. The drummer landed gracefully onto the floor. "…and you were worried, why?"

"You always come in late, as usual." Tsumugi added. Ritsu pulled the keyboardist away to join up with the rest of the band, who were far ahead of them, stopping at a junction to wait for them.

"The plaza's up ahead. That means we're getting close to your house, Yui." Azusa informed her leader.

"Something tells me we're gonna have a LOT of Shadows to deal with once we get there." Yui said, as she checked on everyone, but paid especially close attention to Tsumugi. "Hmm… all right, let's all move out before anything ELSE happens." But just as she said that, the moment she turned around, she was immediately pounced on by a ruthless Shadow, bearing its sharp claws trying to tear Yui into pieces. "GAH! G-GET IT OFF ME!" She said, as she tried her best to keep the claws away from her own chest.

"I GOT IT, YUI-SENPAI!" Azusa said, running in to save her senpai by knocking the Shadow off of Yui, and then slashing at it with her naginata, causing it to disappear in a pool of darkness.

"Phew… that was close." She gets pulled up by Azusa. "Thanks a lot, Azu-nyan."

"No problem. All in a day's work as usual. Now let's get going." She said, dashing forward first like the scout that she is. The group followed her.

**0**

After about 10 minutes of scouting the plaza, the group decided to rest for a bit in an alley just outside the Plaza. They needed to go through it in order to get to Yui's house and a bit of break from this Hour's roughness is just what they needed.

"I don't suppose you have any of those cakes left over in that suitcase of yours, Mugi?" Ritsu asked.

"Sorry, no cakes this time. I don't have access to them anymore since I've been orphaned, so… sorry." Tsumugi dejectedly said.

"Aw, man!" Ritsu's disbelief was clear as crystal. "It's been awhile… I mean, the tea's been great and all, but it sucks not to have cakes."

"I know… sorry. I'll get some at the nearest store when we get home, okay? I promise." This perked up Yui the most.

"OKAY! We're getting across this Plaza right now!"

"You're suddenly enthusiastic, senpai." Azusa commented.

"Yeah, well don't get TOO excited just yet. Look at that." Jun pointed to the Plaza. The whole place was swarming with Shadows, and in the middle, there was a towering Shadow looming. "And I'm willing to guess that he's the boss." Just like she said, the tower is generating Shadows.

"Good call." Yui said, peering from the wall to look.

"So what's the plan, fearless leader?" Ritsu asked.

"Simple… we can't let that thing generate any more Shadows, so we need to get rid of that. I'm going to protect Mugi-chan." She said, as she turned to give out the rest of her orders. "The rest of us are gonna bring down those Shadows and that tower. Got it?"

"Got it." The rest of the team acknowledged, preparing them for what was to come. As for Tsumugi, she just had to tag behind Yui the entire time.

"Mugi-chan, remember what I said. Don't trail off too far behind."

"Okay, Yui… can I just say… you've grown up since the last time we've spoken."

"Aww, thanks, Mugi-chan." Yui said, though a bit too easily flattered.

"Hey, there's no time to get flattered. We got work." Jun urged.

"Right. Ricchan, you're up!" She called out, signaling Ritsu to start the operation.

"Say your prayers, you stupid shadows!" She yelled, holding up what almost looks like a meteorite in her hand and flings it in the direction of the Plaza, destroying as much of the Shadows as possible. Her main target was the looming tower.

"GO! GO! GO!" Yui shouted, signaling them all to charge the Plaza. Jun and Azusa went in first, Azusa covering her thanks to her wind spells, ripping apart and tossing Shadows in the air for Jun to slice through with her katana. Ritsu, in a blaze of glory, fire-dashed her way into the Plaza, whilst setting the Shadows that runs into her ablaze.

"YEEHAW!" Ritsu screamed out as she burned the Shadows asunder. Yui, however, didn't have the pleasure of defeating every single Shadow she saw. Instead, she was to hold back on the fighting and attack only when necessary. The safety of Tsumugi was more important than defeating everything in her path. Her workload was piled up as it is, but tacking on the Shadow Tower in the middle of the Plaza only meant more difficulty in protecting her.

"Mugi-chan, stick close!" She said. The keyboardist nodded as Yui started running, dashing for any safe route she can find, with Tsumugi following behind and sticking close. Yui didn't have much room for error, but she had plenty of room for fighting, as she bashed through any shadows with her battle fans. Sometimes, she had the indefinite assistance from Azusa, Ritsu or Jun.

Azusa held her own against the bigger shadows. She'd always been pit against bigger and tougher enemies. Her nimbleness, however, allowed her to conquer these obstacles. Along with her wind abilities, her speed increases, and also grants her the power to control wind the way she wants to. It's pretty nifty when right in front of her she has to handle about 9-10 fat Shadows. "Size doesn't matter when it comes to me!" She said as she twirled her naginata in full motion above her head, slowly generating a huge gust of wind. The Shadows, having no mind of their own, try to charge at her, hoping to stop her. But their futile attempts were thwarted when that huge gust of wind turned into 3 separate tornadoes, as they danced around Azusa and shredding through the Shadows like a hot knife through butter. Though impressive, Azusa knew she had to keep the mission in mind rather than be impressed.

Ritsu had a more direct approach to this. Despite being the most reckless person on the team, she always goes in head first without thinking, and 99% of the time, she's usually successful. She let out a trail of fire and controls them, making them 'dance' around her enemies, before uniting the flames to destroy them. As she fought, she always had a near-sick grin on her face, a sign that she's enjoying the fights she's been given.

However, even with Jun as backup to rid them of any stragglers, they found themselves completely outnumbered, and with Yui placed on a handicap, Azusa knew the situation was grim.

"Damn it, this isn't looking good!" She said as she sliced another few shadows that were in her way. "RITSU-SENPAI, GET TO THAT TOWER!"

"I'm on it!" Ritsu then leaped off the back of a tall shadow, igniting her Sais with flames and tried to bring down the tower in one fell swoop. On her downward spiral, she sliced through the tower with relative ease, landing on the other side and looking back. To her fear, however, the slash marks she gave to the tower immediately covered itself. "…tch, how annoying."

"That didn't even dent it? Shoot…" Yui found herself backed up in a corner, and was forced to converge with the rest of her friends who are also being backed up by the sheer amounts of Shadows coming for them.

"Gh… and that tower is not gonna go down easily." Jun assessed.

"Never mind that! Spread out and get rid of them!" At Yui's orders, the group had to spread out and try to fight off as many Shadows as possible.

Tsumugi couldn't do anything to help… at this rate, she knew she was going to lose herself and her friends. Her panic level was reaching an all time high… but all she could was watch her friends fight.

'_There's got to be something I can do… but… what CAN I do?'_ This thought ran through her head a bunch of times. Her thoughts were interrupted however, when a lone shadow broke through Azusa's defense and tried to attack her.

"MUGI-SENPAI!" Azusa called out, warning her. Tsumugi almost cowered in fear until…

'_May you be blessed with this power, young one…'_

Tsumugi thought the Shadow had hit her, but when she peered her eyes open a little, she noticed the shadow had been pierced by an earth spike. Looking around, she realized none of her friends use the earth element.

'_What… was that?'_ She asked herself. Then she noticed the earth spikes started coming out from underneath the Shadows that were surrounding her and her friends, destroying them instantly. The girls, a bit surprised at what's transpired, turned to the young keyboardist.

"Was that… you, Mugi-chan?" Yui asked, walking back to her. She then saw her hands have a strange gold aura around them. "Mugi-chan… this is…!" In a flash of light, both of Tsumugi's hands were covered in tight, MMA-style gloves. They were iron-clad as well, so she would pack an even bigger punch.

"Whoa-ho, is this Mugi's awakening now?" Ritsu asked, rather impressed. Jun ran over to check on those new gloves of hers. Sure enough, her Number was there.

"VI… the Sixth. It's official now… that means we don't have to worry about her disappearing at all." Jun confirmed, but Tsumugi knew their job wasn't done.

"Still, there's a Tower we need to destroy, correct?"

"Wow, ANOTHER straight-to-the-point person. As if we needed another one." Ritsu grumbled. Yui placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That's right. Then we can head home."

"Then allow me." Thinking of what she can do with her new power, she touched the earth with her hands, shutting her eyes and focusing her power. "I… can see… I can feel the Tower's weak point." As she kept scanning, she could 'feel' her new power working, sensing the weak point of her enemy. "Found it!" In near-Ritsu fashion, she went in all guns blazing. The rest were slightly confused, but realized the dangers Tsumugi's going to go through and ran after her.

"HOLD UP!" Azusa shouted. Tsumugi wasn't listening. Her eyes were set on that Tower alone. She ran and jumped up into the air, aiming a punch to the ground, which in turn caused an earth spike to pierce the ground and hit the Tower from the underside, toppling it over.

"Now! Attack the bottom of the tower!" Tsumugi shouted. At her command, the girls immediately pelted away at the Tower's bottom, essentially overpowering it and destroying it in seconds with their powers combined. As such, with the Tower destroyed, the Shadows around it are destroyed as well. The first to have that breath of relief was Ritsu.

"Thank god… sheesh, you'd think they'd ease up a bit, but no, they just kept coming."

"Well, at least they're gone now." Yui then approached Tsumugi, patting her on the shoulder. "You did great, Mugi-chan. Welcome back to the team."

"Thank you, Yui. I'll do whatever I can to help."

"Yeah yeah, that's great and all. Now can we PLEASE go home already? I'm tired as heck and I need to SLEEP." Ritsu griped, stretching her body out indicating that she is indeed sleepy.

"…Subtle, Ritsu. Very." Azusa commented.

"Oh shut it, Azusa." Ritsu retorted, getting a hearty laugh from Azusa and the rest. That being said, however, the crisis was averted, and Yui had gained a valuable member of her team. The girls then headed back to the Hirasawa house to take their well-deserved breather.

**0**

However, as the girls left, a certain Princess had been watching over them in the comfort of a rooftop of a tall building.

"So… they've gotten stronger now." She said, the wind breezing through her hair as she let her hood down. She heard the footsteps of her subordinate, Nodoka. "You're late."

"Can you blame me? They had me lock up the station. Paperwork plus staying THIS late just to lock up the station equals me being late." Nodoka said, annoyed. "Seriously, things only get tougher when it hits midnight around here."

"Next time, clock off early, idiot."

"Tch… so… Tsumugi has joined them?" Nodoka asked her leader.

"Yes, and she's a Number too… which makes things that bit more difficult… but Tsumugi has such a soft heart. I'll be sure to rectify that in the long run." Mio replied, clenching her fist.

"But what about your main target?"

"That will wait for a while. For now…" She turns to Nodoka and cups her chin. "Could you be a darling and do me a favor?" Her very sexual gestures made Nodoka blush.

"Y-y-yes, ma'am?"

"Torture Ui Hirasawa and get every bit of information about her sister you can get out of her. I don't care how you do it. I don't even mind if you use that 'Doom' thing."

"Y-you know… I don't use it lest I need to." Nodoka said, averting her eyes away from her boss. Mio then backed off, clearly noting that Nodoka doesn't like what she was doing.

"Then do what you must. Get to it." The student council president nodded.

"Yes, ma'am." She replied, disappearing into the night. Mio continued to look on at the celebrating crew, but her eyes were more focused on the leader, Yui Hirasawa.

"That's right… I'll be sure to rectify things…"

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	10. Doubts

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**0  
Chapter 10: Doubts  
0**

A long day finally averted, one important Dead Hour escapade, finally done. The girls headed back to the Hirasawa house, tired but fulfilled. They had saved one of their best friends from disappearing from this world forever. For now, crisis was averted. Ritsu opened the door to the house, trudged along and immediately plopped herself onto the couch. After using nearly her full extent of her abilities, she was tuckered out.

"Finally, we're home~" She said, exhausted.

"You just don't waste any time, do you, Ritsu-senpai?"

"Shut it, Azusa. You try running through a bunch of Shadows at a hundred miles an hour, ON FIRE at that." Ritsu retorted, once again.

"Now now, we're all pretty tired after that." Tsumugi assured. Their newest member, off the back of a strenuous first outing with her new Awakened powers, knew her duty at this point. She was quickly learning as the situation now grows dire.

"Yeah, we all are." Yui agreed. "But Mugi-chan, you were the best today. You saved yourself and pretty much everyone for that matter by awakening to your powers."

"Ah, it was nothing, Yui. I'd have still done all I could, even without these powers." She said, taking off her gloves.

"Oh, why are YOU being modest all of a sudden?" Ritsu rolled over and looked at her. "You should be proud of this moment! You took the bull by the horns, and then you clipped it right off! I say, good on you, Mugi-chan!"

"Nice analogy, Ritsu, VERY subtle." Azusa sarcastically said.

"Shut it, Azusa! You should be headed to bed!"

"Well you too, Ritsu-senpai! And I'm poking you if you don't move it!" She gets her naginata out just in case.

"Oho, you wanna play rough, Azusa? Bring it on!" Ritsu said, grabbing her Sais. Jun just sighed, watching this commotion.

"Great, now we're never going to bed."

"Come on guys, get to bed." Yui ordered them both. In playful style, they dropped their weapons and tried to make it to their futons before the other could. Yui just smiled, before turning her attention to Tsumugi. "Mugi-chan, aren't you getting to bed yet?" She can clearly see that Tsumugi's got her tea set out, apparently going to make tea for the first time since she was disowned.

"U-uh… well, I probably won't be able to sleep anyway…" Yui nodded, turning her attention to Jun now.

"And you?"

"Kunoichi don't sleep." Jun replied in a quiet but assuring tone.

"…I see. Well then, Mugi-chan, you don't mind getting us a cup of tea? There are things I want to talk about."

"I'll get right to it, Yui!" She said, starting to make the tea.

"…Things you want to talk about? What kind of things?" Jun asked, curious.

"Well, for starters… what do you make of this whole situation, this whole incident with Mio for that matter?"

"Hmmm… this whole situation…" Jun began to ponder for a bit, thinking of what to say before giving her answer. "It's simple, Yui. As far as anyone is concerned, Mio has been tormenting us all and hurting the ones we love in order to get her way… taking over Japan was just the tip of the iceberg."

"I see… so you're with the general consensus." Yui rested her chin on her hand in thoughts. Tsumugi came in and delivered to them their tea.

"I know that look, Yui." Tsumugi placed down the tray on the table, pouring the tea into the respective cups soon after.

"Do you have another view of this, Yui-senpai?" She asked the guitarist, picking her cup up and sipping from it. She was interested to know what her senior thinks.

"She has that look on her face… whatever she's going to say next would probably sound ridiculous, but I'd believe her if I were you… most of the time, she might be right." Tsumugi added.

"Well… I have been giving this some thought… and while everyone is getting on the 'blame Mio' train, I've got a different outlook on it." She sipped her tea before continuing on. "What if… Mio has absolutely NOTHING to do with what's going on now?" This very statement nearly made Jun choke on her tea, thinking that what Yui just said was implausible.

"G-gah… are you being serious here, senpai?"

"…if this is about Mio, then I'm more than serious." Yui confidently said. This IS one of her best friends she's talking about.

"If Ritsu were to hear that, she'd probably have a fit." Tsumugi said as she sat down with the two of them.

"…Tsumugi-senpai, do you honestly believe what Yui-senpai's saying?"

"I can't say I do, but I can't say I don't either." The keyboardist replied. "What Yui is saying is just a possibility, not a conclusion just yet."

"That's right. But even as we speak now, Ricchan might have jumped too early on the 'blame Mio' bandwagon."

"But Yui-senpai, the evidence is all pointing to Mio, and there's not much else to go on." Jun stated. Her argument was true. Not many people would think that Mio wouldn't be to blame at this point.

"Yes, there may be evidence, but there's not enough to have a strong case… well, all I'm saying is, there might be something going on here. Mio… Mio's not the person we knew back then."

"People change… Hell, everything changes, Yui-senpai." Yui then slumped onto the couch.

"Well… that's what I think. Still, there's no proof, or rather, not enough proof to support either cases."

"There's still time, Yui." Tsumugi encouraged. "It's not really set in stone yet."

"…You're right, Mugi-chan. As of now… we'll just see how things go."

"And you'll need to provide a very strong case. Especially to Ritsu-senpai, even though convincing her is going to prove tougher than usual." Jun added.

"We'll worry about that when we get to that point. For now, we'll just let things slide." Yui said as she got off the couch. "I'm going to bed. Good night everyone." With that, she walked to her room and decided to hit the hay.

**0**

However, after 'eavesdropping', one person wasn't particularly happy. After hearing all that, she couldn't particularly sleep. So instead, she found herself a rooftop in the distance, away from the Hirasawa house. As pissed off as she was, she didn't have enough anger in her to just burn everything in sight, so she was content in flame-slashing the air in front of her, picturing her enemy, Mio, in front of her. She screamed out of fury as she kept slashing the air.

"That Yui… who does she think she's kidding!" She yelled, doing skilful slashes with her Sais. She stopped for a bit to breathe. "Mio not having anything to do with this? Is she stupid or what? God freaking DAMN IT!" Her anger was now at an all time high as she threw fiery slash after fiery slash into the air.

She had to stop, however. The power she used earlier during the fight in the Plaza still hadn't been replenished. As reckless as she was, she was neither invincible nor immortal. She was gasping for air even after that short 'training' session. She decided she had to turn in for the night, after releasing as much anger as she possibly could.

"My, my, what a beautiful display of rage you've put up. I'll note that down immediately." That voice was all-too-familiar for Ritsu. She didn't bother to look over her shoulder to respond.

"Shouldn't you be sucking up to Mio like you've usually done, Nodoka?" She turned around to face her. "I bet she's REALLY lonely without you."

"Spare me from your jokes, Ritsu." Nodoka said as she slid off and landed on her feet. "You'll just make more of a fool out of yourself."

"Before I turn you into ashes, you'd better start telling me what the Hell you're doing out here. It's past the Dead Hour and I'm not interested in fighting right now."

"Me? Fight you? You wouldn't stand a chance. Besides, I have more important matters to attend to." Nodoka adjusted her glasses.

"If it involves Yui, don't even bother. I'm not letting YOU get any closer to her." Ritsu said, priming up her Sais just in case Nodoka tries anything funny.

"Oh, it doesn't involve her at all. In fact, Mio's a bit more interested in YOU right now." This caught the drummer's attention.

"…seriously, that is going to get your burnt alive now."

"I think Mio's right. You seem to have all this rage and anger inside you, you're just willing to let it out on someone right now. Forget about Yui, Ritsu… she doesn't agree with anything you do after all." Ritsu just glared at Nodoka. She was right, though. Ritsu and Yui have never been on the same page, but Ritsu's resolve was clear.

"You think I'd betray Yui over some pointless disagreements? Get over yourself. I ain't joining you." The response just made Nodoka sigh.

"That's too bad really… what will I tell Mio when I get back?"

"You can tell her that she can take that offer and stick it up her damn…" Before she could finish though, she was interrupted again.

"Why don't you tell it to my face, Ritsu? Or are you afraid to look me in the eyes anymore?" Ritsu looked up to where Nodoka was seated before. That figure in the darkness was all too familiar for both of them.

"Oh good, you've shown your ugly face here." She proceeded to crack her knuckles. "Now get down here so that I can make you UGLIER!"

"Nodoka, what did I tell you to do?" Mio asked her subordinate, ignoring Ritsu completely.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard… have fun with her, Mio." She said, immediately getting off the roof she's on.

"So, alone at last, with the villain of this damn situation!"

"Villain?" Mio cracked a sick grin on her face. "I prefer the term 'Savior'."

"SAVIOR MY FOOT! You're gonna kill us all at this rate, I just know it! Now that you're here, I can finally END all of this!" Upon hearing, Mio jumped off and landed onto the floor below, her arms crossed. She stepped forward, almost as if accepting Ritsu's challenge.

"I grow tired of all this insolence… but if you insist, then I must ask." She drew her katana, pointing it directly at Ritsu. "Are you ready to die a Fool's death?" She threatened, but mere threats weren't ready to stop a bullet train known only as Tainaka Ritsu.

"You're the one who's gonna be dying, you idiot!" Immediately, she dashed in and jumped up high into the air, diving down and clashed with Mio's katana using her Sais. "I'M TAKING YOU DOWN ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	11. Voices

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit****

Chapter 11: Voices

The house was silent. Only a mere breeze by the night wind made its way through the house, rustling a couple of trinkets and other items in the house. Even Jun the Silent, who swore that she wouldn't sleep thanks to her code, had fallen asleep as well. Azusa used Ui's room for awhile, and Yui was in her room, sleeping. However, Yui was slightly twitching in her sleep. Something had been bothering her.

"N-no… don't… l-let her go!" She yelled under her breath. Something had been making her feel uncomfortable, and it had been recurring in her nightmares. She suddenly jolted up from her bed, unable to take it anymore, gasping for air. "What… was that… all about?" She said, as she got up from her bed and headed straight for the bathroom. Turning on the sink and washing her face, she looked into the mirror. She tried to recall what happened in that nightmare she had earlier. "Ui…" She softly said. "Where are you…?" Surely enough, she's been having nightmares of Ui Hirasawa, her sister she lost when she was attacked in her own home. She had disappeared from the hospital since that day. Though now, she sought to find the answers as to why she's been having the same nightmares over and over again.

She took a stroll out of her bed. It was 4am in the morning, so the house was understandably dark. She went and checked up on Azusa in Ui's room, then went down to see Jun sprawled all over the couch. Yui, seeing Jun might be cold, got a blanket out and covered Jun's body with it. "You're gonna get a cold at this rate, you little Kunoichi." She whispered. She then looked around to find her recently Awakened friend, Tsumugi, and true enough, she was outside, enjoying the night air. Yui decided to join her for a bit. Tsumugi noticed her leader and smiled.

"Did someone catch a little case of insomnia?" She asked.

"If that was meant to be a joke, Mugi-chan, I'm not laughing." Yui said, standing next to her outside and looking at the stars.

"Insomnia's bad, you know? You should really get some sleep."

"This coming from Mugi-chan is already wrong in many ways." Tsumugi giggled, though when she looked at her, she knew immediately that something had been bothering her.

"There's something on your mind… care to share it with me?" Yui looked at her, almost reluctant to even speak to her about her dream.

"Well… I…"

"If you don't really want to talk about it, then it's all right." Tsumugi cut her off.

"Then why'd you ask in the first place?" Yui replied, glaring at her through the corner of her eyes. Tsumugi just giggled, being a tease for once. Then she looked back up into the sky. "Well… simply put, my nightmares keep bothering me…"

"What is it about?"

"…simply put… I'm always watching Ui get tortured and hurt… and there's nothing she can do about it…" Yui sat down on the soft patch of grass, burying her face in her knees. "It just pains me a lot…" She tried her hardest not to tear up. Tsumugi sat down next to her, a look of concern etched on her face.

"And you're forced to see these things in your sleep…"

"Ever since she ran away from the hospital," Yui continued, her voice starting to crackle due to her sadness. "I've only gotten more worried about her… these nightmares are probably telling me something." Tsumugi patted Yui softly on the head.

"They are telling you something, Yui." She said as she glanced back to the sky. "They're telling you… somewhere out there, Ui needs your help. She can't do much without you… so what I'm saying is, you'd best hurry on out of here."

"I can't, Mugi-chan. The morning sun's going to rise soon. If I'm going to look for Ui, I have to wait for the next Dead Hour." Yui rested her head on Tsumugi's shoulder. "…I'll rescue Ui… and then we'll find a way to get Mio-chan back… I'm sure of it."

"Then we can all be one happy family again, right?" Tsumugi continued for her, which brought a smile to her face.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Mugi-chan." Yui sniggered a bit. "For now… I like the night sky… the stars are beautiful tonight…"

**0**

Meanwhile, up on the rooftops, the battle between the newly-proclaimed Best Friends from Hell grew more intense. So intense, however, that Ritsu slid across the roof after blocking one of her archenemy's attacks. It was so powerful that her sliding caused sparks to fly under her feet. As soon as she stopped, she ended up, falling onto one knee, breathing hard. Surprisingly enough, she managed to tire Mio out as well, evidently because Mio's using her sword to support herself.

"H-hehe… I'll be honest… you're the first to push me to my limit, Ritsu…" She praised, in between breaths of air.

"Heh… you aren't too bad yourself since the last time I saw you, Mio… too bad you gotta die." All Mio did was grin.

"Oh? So you think you can kill me, Ritsu? Especially… when I have you right where I want you?" Ritsu was slightly confused as to what she meant.

"What?" Without any hesitation, Mio summoned ice pillars onto the rooftop, raising them from the corners of the rooftop. Slowly, the roof they were in was engulfed in ice. Ritsu may have noticed it. Now she was fighting on Mio's preferred terrain. "Tch… so, we're doing this your way now, huh? Fine, I'll comply." She got her Sais out, but when she tried to ignite them, to her dismay, the flames only fizzled out the moment she tried. "H-huh! What the Hell's going on?" She could hear the chuckles coming from Mio.

"So, Ritsu… how does it feel to have your precious little flames taken away? Feeling a bit… useless? Not like that's anything new." The insult just tore any sort of patience Ritsu had for Mio apart.

"I'm going… to freaking… KILL YOU!" She yelled out, lashing out at her in pure rage. Without her flames, however, and the ice conditions worsening, she was weakening. It was perfect for Mio, as she stopped Ritsu's charge with just a spin kick to her stomach, sending her flying back and forcing her on all 4s. "G-gh… what's… happening to me…?"

"Oh, I think you know. Ice makes you colder, and you're more likely to get hurt a lot more. Now I can shatter you quickly and easily."

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE NOT GONNA BEAT ME!" The fit of rage Ritsu built up was just fodder for Mio, as she watched her adversary charge at her recklessly once again. The sick grin was still rather evident when she conjured ice pillars to stop Ritsu's charge. She could see it. Ritsu had been sluggish the moment the ice had come into play and it was plain as day when Ritsu slipped up. She had hit an ice pillar right at the very end, causing her to nearly slip up.

However, Ritsu didn't stop. Instead, she used that minor slip up to jump into the air, wielding her Sais and diving down towards her adversary. But as Mio knew, her sluggishness turned Ritsu weak. She barely felt any force as they clashed. This allowed Mio to just shove her off, and then grab her and trip her, leaving her face first onto the cold floor.

"NGH!" Ritsu groaned. The ice was starting to take its toll on her body. That was further proven when a normal stomp to her back suddenly turned twice as painful. "GAAAAAH!" She yelled in pain. "T-the hell's… g-going on?"

"That's right. Shiver and tremble in fear, Ritsu…" Mio said, in a soft, yet threatening voice. "In my realm… you're completely weakened, and rendered completely powerless…"

"D-don't screw with me… I'm not done with you…"

"Oh, don't worry." Her hand was right over Ritsu's back. "I'll make SURE it's over." At that point, as much as Ritsu tried to hide it, the fear had fully taken over. Death hadn't really been part of her vocabulary, but that word happened to be flashing right in front of her eyes. "But you know what…? Killing you just isn't fun… so…" Mio said, moving her hand down to Ritsu's left leg, and without any remorse or hesitation, shot a giant ice spike into it.

The cry of pain Ritsu let out resonated throughout the city. The pain was too excruciating for her to take, and Mio was enjoying all of this, as she kicked the ice spike into Ritsu's leg further, just to make sure it goes through fully.

"That's it, Ritsu. Cry in pain, SCREAM! I want to hear it all!" She taunted, as she kept kicking the spike in. She watched Ritsu writhe in pain, almost as if she wants her to stop, but knowing Ritsu, she'd just suck it up and take it, because 'giving up' never was in her vocabulary either. Mio gave one final kick onto the spike and made sure the spike went through her leg. At this point, Ritsu did her best not to show any sign of weakness, and though the pain was unbearable, true enough to her nature, she wasn't about to give up that easily.

"I-is that… all… you got… you sad excuse for a human?" At that, Mio just snickered.

"See, this is what I like about you, Ritsu… you get beaten up so badly, and you won't even say 'I quit' at all… I think I made the right choice in making you my punching bag."

"Shut your mouth… and finish me…"

"…Gladly." The sick grin returning to her face, she was priming to throw another spike, this time to her head, when she was interrupted by her cell phone. "…Excuse me." She politely said as she answered it. "This BETTER be important, Nodoka." She listened to what her subordinate had to say. "Mm-hmm… mm-hmm… seriously? Fine… I'll be right there." She hung up immediately, and then looked at Ritsu. "I hate to leave you on such short notice, but I've got bigger fish to fry. So enjoy this little parting gift." She immediately freezes Ritsu into place, locking her hands in ice cuffs.

"G-GYAH! Y-you'll never get away with this, Mio! Not as long as I live!"

"Is that so? Well then… if you want to finish this, you can step into my Castle any time…" She parted ways with her the moment she gave her the invitation, the ice arena slowly melting away, but the ice on her hands and body, and especially the ice spike on her leg, wasn't going to melt anytime soon.

"F-feh… sometimes… I can be quite stupid…" Her vision slowly blurred, her body getting heavy, and soon, she lost her consciousness…

**0**

Mio returned to Akiyama Towers, annoyed rather than pleased, because she was cut off of her one source of enjoyment. Nodoka had asked to meet her at the dungeons. It seems their captive isn't talking.

"You sure picked a fine time to cut me off… I was having fun."

"We have more serious matters to attend to, Mio." She said, bringing her leader down to the dungeons, and more specifically the very far end of the dungeon, in a special prison for this one. "…she still won't talk. I've tried everything. Even beating her up won't do a thing."

"…hmph. A tough nut to crack, eh?" Mio said, as she entered the cell. Only special chains and shackles could hold this prisoner, of a special material at that. Breathing hard, the lone captive of Mio Akiyama and Nodoka Manabe was known only as the younger of the two Hirasawas, Ui Hirasawa. The sheer amount of torture that she'd gone through was shown in how much damage her body had taken. Cuts on one of her cheeks, burn marks on her body and a couple of bruises clearly showed as bright as day.

"Y-you'll… never… get Yui… I won't… say a thing…" That only earned Ui a swift punch to the face. "AH!"

"Don't you dare speak to Mio in that tone!" The trademark snicker of the Hooded One kicked in, amused at what's transpired.

"Interesting… very interesting… at least I know she's better than her sister… oh well, then let's just bring her sister here and… kill her." Mio coldly said, which brought a small gasp from Ui. Nodoka gave a very dark glare to Ui.

"You'll regret this day, Ui Hirasawa. You'll rue the day you crossed us with your insolence."

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	12. Save My Sister

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 12: Save My Sister**

Many hours have passed since Mio Akiyama's assault on Tainaka Ritsu.

Ui Hirasawa didn't know what to do. The chains were debilitating her. Her powers were null at this point. She thought of herself as 'harmless', but neither Mio nor Nodoka thought so. She kept tugging the chains in a vain attempt to pull the shackles off of her, but after the abuse that she was given at the hands of Nodoka, she was weakened greatly. The bruises on her face were the result of Nodoka's punching. Even the slight gash around her neck was thanks to her torturer. She had been tortured for days, yet she stood resilient and defiant to the duo's demands. Most of the demands were to reveal her sister, Yui's weaknesses, but as the younger of the two Hirasawas, she wasn't about to expose her sister to her captors.

Her thoughts were disrupted when she heard the door to the dungeon unlock. The lock was loud, so she could hear the unlocking even from when she is. Then she heard the familiar footsteps closing in on her location. _'Here we go again…'_ she thought to herself, unsurprised. Sure enough, the familiar sight of the bespectacled Student Council president nearly made Ui feel sick to her stomach, as she stood outside her cell, not coming in this time around.

"I keep telling you this, Nodoka… but you sold your soul to the devil." She said in between breaths. "You sold out…"

"No, I think you're quite mistaken, Ui." She interrupted her. "I never sold out. In fact, I sold IN, but you probably knew that by now."

"Tch…" She grumbled. "Whatever it is you want to know, you're not getting it from me… there's no point hurting me anymore. I'M NOT TELLING YOU ANYTHING!"

"Your stubbornness is really annoying me, Ui. I could easily beat you up again… but I have more important matters to attend to. Something along the lines of, oh, I don't know…" Her voice suddenly went soft and cruel. "Wiping the Hirasawas off the face of the Earth?"

"As if… Yui's far stronger than you, Nodoka. You'll never beat her." The bespectacled one just smirked.

"That remains to be seen. Don't worry. I'll bring her here so that I can kill you both at the same time. Your heads would be a nice decoration for this Tower."

"You're nothing like the Nodoka we know… what's gotten into you, huh? When did you become so heartless! When did you start caring only about yourself?" Ui yelled at Nodoka, which only brought her to snap back at her.

"SHUT UP! You wouldn't know what it's like to have lost EVERYTHING! You still have Yui. But what has she done for ME? All she's done is abandon me and go after Mio, because 'she's more threatening' than me."

"That's not true! She wouldn't dare abandon you! She's your best friend and she's known you for so long… ever since you were kids, Nodoka. There's no way she'd abandon you…" Ui hoped to get this fact into Nodoka's head, but it was to no avail.

"Best friends? Yeah, right. She's out there living the high life, and I'm stuck doing this. So you know what? Mio's gonna make my life a LOT easier. As of now, Yui has completely betrayed me. So her head is MINE." She stomped off, leaving Ui after being angered by her words.

"NODOKA, WAIT! YOU'RE MAKING A BIG…" Before she finished, Nodoka had slammed the door shut on her, preventing Ui from reasoning with her anymore. All Ui could do at this point was let out a heavy sigh. "I have… to tell onee-chan… I have to reach her…" She focused her power. Unbeknownst to everyone else, Ui Hirasawa possessed the possibly the most powerful ability known to mankind.

Telekinesis.

Unfortunately, thanks to the special chains and shackles around her hands and feet, she wasn't allowed to do much in the means of escape. However, her head had not been sealed. She wasn't able to focus enough power to escape, but as far as communication goes, she had the ability to do so. She focused her power into contacting her sister, hoping to at least get some message across.

"Onee-chan… please, if you can hear me…"

**0**

Yui prepped herself up, checking her equipment over and over again. She knew the situation was grave at this point. The recurring nightmares that have been going through her head every night weren't just nightmares to her. They were visions, visions of her sister repeatedly getting herself beaten up, visions that were far too gruesome for her to picture anymore. She got out of her seat in her room, and went out towards the front door. However, she was greeted by a rather concerned Tsumugi. Jun had a rather unsurprised look on her.

"You're really going, huh?" The Earth user asked.

"It's something I have to do, Mugi-chan. My sister is in danger. If I don't help her… well, I'd rather not talk about what comes next unless it happens."

"Well, I'm not gonna stop you this time… I'd help, but there are some other concerns I need to attend to. More specifically, Ritsu-senpai hasn't returned. She went missing since last night." Jun informed.

"What about Azu-nyan? Where is she?"

"She apparently decided to look for Ritsu since this morning. At least, that's what she told me." Tsumugi told this time around. "Yui… I know this is for Ui and all, but… do you really think it's wise to go out there by yourself?" Yui raised an eyebrow to her.

"…Are you afraid, Mugi-chan? Afraid that Mio might just show up and destroy everything?" Tsumugi, though taken aback slightly by her question, just shook her head. "Then don't worry. I'm only going there to get Ui back…" She turned towards the street. "If it goes off without a hitch, I'll be back here with minimal injuries. If I don't come back, however, you guys better find safety." The both of them nodded, as they watched Yui jump from one roof to another roof.

Yui's thoughts began to streak through her head.

'_What kind of sister would I be if I didn't even TRY to rescue her?'_ Next to Gitah, her sister was the most important thing in her life right now. Their mother and father went missing, so Ui is the only family she had left. Take that away from her, and Yui has nothing.

The guitarist made her way towards Akiyama Towers, the only looming tower watching over all of Japan. However, in order to not cause a ruckus in the vicinity, she waited 10 blocks away from the Tower, resting in an alley.

"Ui… wait for me. Onee-chan's coming to rescue you."

It didn't take long, however, before Yui felt another presence. It seemed dangerous at first, but after who she's been exposed to, it could have been anyone she knew. She kept her guard up in case it was a hostile. However, the all-too-familiar cry for Yui instantly dropped it.

"Yui-senpai!" Azusa, who had been searching for Ritsu all morning, was calling out for her.

"Azu-nyan, what are you doing here?"

"I heard from Tsumugi-senpai… you're really going, aren't you?" Yui noted the concerned look on Azusa's face.

"…I have to, Azu-nyan. If not, my sister's gonna die, and it'll be my fault entirely…" She looked away from Azusa. She knew this was too important, and Azusa knew that as well. "What about Ricchan? Did you manage to find her?"

"No…" She answered, worryingly. "I've been searching for her all day, but I couldn't even detect her. She might have been attacked last night, though."

"We can't jump to conclusions just yet, Azu-nyan. She may have been attacked, but this is Ricchan we're talking about. She wouldn't be stupid enough to get herself caught or killed."

"…You're right." Azusa reassured herself. "Ritsu-senpai's strong. So she wouldn't get caught." However, she had digressed too much, and got back on topic. "B-but still, Yui-senpai, you're not that crazy as to march into that Tower just to get Ui! That's pure suicide! You'd walk right into their trap and…" Yui, however, placed a finger on Azusa's lip before she could finish.

"Azu-nyan… you need to trust me on this. I'm not going in there like it was a suicide mission. Once I find Ui, I'll free her and bring her back to the house. We can plan our next course of action later." Azusa, though she still had that sliver of worry in her, was convinced by Yui. She then rummaged through her pocket and took out what looked like a pack of pills.

"Well, if you're gonna go in there then I'm not letting you lose control of your power, so you'd better take it." The pack of pills Azusa was holding were the suppressants Yui had been consuming for some time. Azusa confirmed that Yui had not been able to control her power, and has once or twice allowed her power to go astray, just like when Yui destroyed Ritsu. So Azusa took it upon herself to acquire these suppressants to help her.

"…Come on now, Azu-nyan. Do I REALLY need to take these?"

"You remember what happened last time, Yui-senpai." Azusa asserted. "If you don't control yourself, that power is going to be the most destructive power here. So take them!" She handed the pills over to Yui, with the guitarist reluctantly accepting. "Now I'm gonna keep looking for Ritsu-senpai… you do what you have to do and come back home, okay?"

"…Don't worry, I'll be back." With that, she watched Azusa leap up to the rooftops. Yui smiled, seeing that she got Azusa's trust on this situation. Now, all she had to do was wait to enter the Dead Hour…

**0**

Yui had nearly fallen asleep, so when she stirred, she almost didn't realize she had entered the Hour. Nonetheless, she got up from her current position, and then peered from the alley, staring at her destination, Akiyama Towers.

"Ui… just hold on a bit longer, okay?" Though she was confident that she could take on anyone, she felt the prospect of facing her oldest best friend, Nodoka, and the person she's trying to save as well, Mio.

However, her thoughts were cut short when she felt a sharp pain ring through her head. "A-AGH!" She groaned, clutching her head in a vain attempt to stop the pain. "W-what's going on?" She dropped to her knees. Then, she heard a voice in her head again.

"Onee-chan! Onee-chan, please! Nodoka's after you next. Please, bring her back as well!" Yui immediately recognized the voice.

"U-Ui! Ui, where are you? Please, answer me!" She tried to call out, but as quickly as it came, the voice immediately died off. She wasn't hallucinating. She had really heard her sister's voice, which only motivated her to go off and rescue her. Immediately, she decided to leap up to the rooftops to get closer to the Tower. She only stopped because she was as close as she could get without getting spotted on the rooftops.

However, on the last rooftop she stopped on, she stared once more at the Tower. She knew Ui was inside. But she felt another presence on that same rooftop. She didn't look back, however, because the aura which surrounded her opponent was far too familiar.

"I'm surprised you'd show up." Yui asked, her back still turned away.

"I should be the one to tell you that, Yui." Her opponent walked towards her. Yui recognized the voice immediately.

"Nodoka… I should have known you'd buy in to Mio's demands." She mentioned, disappointed with her 'friend'.

"No one asked for your opinion, Yui. I walk my own path. You've walked your own path, but I'm not part of that, aren't I?" Yui remained silent, though slightly interested in what Nodoka had to say. "And here I thought you were my best friend, Yui. But guess what? I'm now an obstacle in your path."

"Is that so?" She turned towards Nodoka. "Then I'll just have to remove that obstacle, no?" She drew out her battle fans from her pocket, positioning one on her side, and the other covering half of her face, but Nodoka had other ideas.

"Now now, don't be hasty, Yui. I'm in no mood to fight." She said as she stepped closer to Yui. The guitarist kept her guard up in case she tried anything sly. "I… just want to rid you of any troubles now."

"Huh?" Yui was confused. She didn't think Nodoka would try to reason things with her at this point.

"It's just like I've said. I can completely get rid of all your troubles. You don't have to worry about the Dead Hour, your friends dying, all that." She placed a hand on Yui's shoulder. Her voice suddenly turned cold and vindictive. "All you have to do is join Mio… and I'll make sure your friends don't die…" Alarm bells rang in Yui's head, and in an instant she grabbed Nodoka's hand and proceeded to shock her. "AAAGH! G-GH!" Nodoka fought out of it quickly, shoving Yui back.

"If you think I'm going to abandon my friends like that, you've got another thing coming!"

"You've already abandoned me… so I think you're a bit too late for that." Nodoka said, stretching her arm out in front of her. In a flash of light, a scythe materialized in her hands. Yui managed to spot the 'VIII' on the handle of the scythe.

"I should have known… you were a Number from the beginning."

"So now you know… and now, I have to capture you… and then I'll kill you and Ui." The mere mention of Ui's name made Yui's eyes widen slightly.

"Don't you dare speak her name, Nodoka! She's not going to die… not if I have anything to say about it!"

"Then come at me, Yui! Try and stop me now!" Yui, with her mission in mind, immediately ran straight for Nodoka, her battle fans in hand. However, little did she know she was falling right into Nodoka's trap…

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	13. Time Limit

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 13: Time Limit **

All Ui Hirasawa could do right now is hope for the best. She had her one last chance to contact her sister, and hoped that it reached her. She was all tuckered out after that one last attempt. She had to tell Yui of the impending danger that was about to befall on her. After the outburst that Nodoka had towards Ui, she knew something had to be done, and the only way she was going to do it was without the shackles and chains holding her down. In other words, she had to bail out of here quickly.

However, it seems a repeating occurrence happens every time she's in thought about her sister. She gets disrupted every time. This time, however, the very 'princess' of all Japan decided to pay a visit to the psychic. Ui, however, wasn't intimidated at all. In fact, if the shackles weren't around her, she'd have stood ready to fight Mio right there and then. But all Ui could do was grit her teeth at the sight of the 'princess'.

"Well," Mio began, wrapping two of the iron bars that make the cell for Ui. "This is your last chance, Ui. Just tell… one tiny little detail about your sister. Just one small weakness that Yui Hirasawa has… and then I'll let you go."

"Over… my dead… body…" She muttered, in between hard, deep breaths.

"That can be arranged!" Mio said, slightly incensed. "And I'll make sure you're piling on your sister's corpse!"

"Yui won't be beaten by you! My sister is BETTER THAN YOU!" Hearing those words gave Mio that evil smirk she's known for. She then opened the cell door and went in, shutting it as soon as she's entered.

"Really, Ui?" She threatened. "Yui's better than me? Well then… we'll find out, won't we? If she survives Nodoka that is…" She slowly took her blade out and rested the tip of it on Ui's throat. "So… what makes you so confident that Yui will defeat me?"

"For one… she has a pure heart… unlike you, you disgraceful, hopeless, lifeless, emotionless waste of space!" That only managed to earn Ui a punch to her face, making her grunt in pain.

"Heh… such bravery. I like that in a girl… you fare way better than your sister. Too bad the both of you must die. You'll just get in my way if I just let your roam free."

"We won't die… we will not die this day…" Mio pressed the tip of the sword a bit further, just slightly digging into Ui's skin.

"We'll see about that, Ui Hirasawa. When I'm done with her, you'll be eating your words." She sheathed her sword, but not before giving Ui yet another tight slap to her face. She turned away from Ui and looked at one of the Shadow Guards. "You, keep a close eye on her. And don't let her fool you." The Shadow, incapable of speech, gave Mio a nod. Ui could do nothing but just glare at Mio as she walked away.

"Gh…"

**0**

Yui almost made her fight look easy. Since the start of the fight, it looked as though Yui had Nodoka on the back foot, as she kept slashing away at her. Nodoka could only block as much as she could, with the occasional heavy side slash to try and knock her off balance. However, due to the scythe's weight, it was hard for Nodoka to maneuver it as quickly as Yui could maneuver her battle fans.

Or so one would believe.

Yui kept the attack up, nearly knocking Nodoka down with a pinwheel attack, sending her body spinning as her battle fans do the work. She landed ever so gracefully onto the floor, glaring at Nodoka. "What's wrong, Nodoka-chan? Don't tell me this is all you've got!"

"Hmph. I beg to differ, Yui. Look down." Unbeknownst to Yui, she had stepped right into one of Nodoka's favorite traps. She was engulfed in a purple light, but it didn't do much to her. However, when Yui opened her eyes, she saw that she's unharmed, but there was a white ball of light floating in front of her which floated right near Nodoka.

"W-wha-? What'd you do?" Yui asked, confused.

"Yui, I hate to say it. But you literally now have 10 minutes to live. This ball of light here represents your soul. When this light fades completely… you'll die."

"WHAT!" Yui exclaimed in disbelief.

"That's why, Yui, you have 10 minutes to live… however, if you defeat me in that 10 minute time frame, I'll return this orb back to you. Though I have high doubts you CAN defeat me in that time." Yui immediately returned to her fighting stance.

"This'll be a piece of cake then!" She yelled, charging straight for Nodoka, who only pushed her glasses up.

"Don't underestimate me, Yui." Nodoka then swiped at Yui with another sideswipe, which was easily dodged. Yui, however, did not account for a reflex swing coming in. The force of the swing caught Yui and she was flung about halfway across the roof.

"G-GYAH! Tch… okay, my mista-!" Yui didn't have time to mutter a thought as she noticed Nodoka charge in, swinging the scythe wildly to do damage. She knew that if she were to get hit now, it would hurt, so she used every ounce of energy she had dodging most of the attacks. She realized she couldn't get any closer either, seeing as the scythe's range is diminishing any chance for a close range hit. Out of nowhere, Nodoka planted the blade of the scythe into the ground and used the momentum of the swing to dropkick Yui in the chest, sending her tumbling back. "N-ngh…"

"Mistake 1, Yui. Never underestimate your opponent… even if she IS you former best friend."

"F-former? Nodoka, you've always BEEN my best friend!"

"THAT'S A LIE AND YOU KNOW IT! You wouldn't have abandoned me like you did! I've never heard from you in a long time, then suddenly you came back and don't even bother coming back to me!" Hearing all this had made Yui realize. She hadn't really been in touch with anyone from school, Nodoka in particular.

"Nodoka… look, Nodoka, I just want to get some answers. I want to get rid of this Hour and stop Mio!"

"If Mio's so important to you, then defeat me, Yui! You only have 8 minutes left! WORK FAST!" Yui immediately charged at Nodoka the moment she said that, knowing beating her best friend now would knock some sense into her…

**0**

Security had tightened in the prison cells, thanks to Mio, of course. Since she had promised the deaths of the Hirasawas, she needed to make sure Ui didn't escape. The captive could only look around for the moment, seeing the bigger, knight-like Shadows patrolling her area mostly.

'_I have to get out of here… for Yui's sake and mine.'_ She thought to herself. She looked around and tried to think of an escape plan. A sudden realization hit her a minute later, and she recalled the moment Mio spoke to one of the Shadow guards. They understood her without thinking. So she had to put her theory to the test.

"U-umm… excuse me?" She called out in an innocent manner, getting the attention of one of the Shadow guards, who looked at her with its ominous yellow eyes. "Umm… my shackles are a bit too tight, and it's not really comfortable… you wouldn't mind loosening it up for me, right?" And thus, her theory was proven true. They'd listen to anyone with a request, as she saw the guard faze through the cell and attempt to loosen up the shackles by unshackling her first.

Big mistake.

Before it could even realize, Ui used her psychic powers to smash the Shadow guard into the wall, instantaneously destroying it. She then turned her attention to the cell, bending two of the bars so that she could have an opening for her to escape. The surrounding Shadow guards came in to stop her, but they were easily destroyed with a mind crush from Ui. She immediately booked it and ran out of the prison area. But she wasn't leaving without the one thing that was taken away from her prior to her capture, which was her weapon.

Sneaking around Akiyama Towers, however, was not her idea of an escape, but she had to do it if she wanted to get her weapon back. So in true Solid Snake style, she hid behind walls and kept a sharp eye for any hostiles. The added boost of her telekinesis helped as well. She went from cover to cover keeping herself unseen from the Shadow guards around the Tower, and there were plenty to begin with.

Alas, she had reached the storage room. Most likely, this was where Nodoka had stored Ui's possessions. However, there was heavy security as usual. Two heavy armor Shadow guards were blocking the path to the storage room. Acting swiftly, if her theory was proven right once, they'd be proven right again, as she used her mind powers to levitate a small paper ball on the ground, tossing it across the room. They took the bait, following it like a bunch of goldfish, which prompted Ui to sneak right into the storage room. Once again, using her psychic powers, she could scan the room to pinpoint where her stuff was. The moment she found it, she opened the locker containing her things.

"Jackpot." She whispered. The first thing she grabbed was her weapon of choice. She had been training with this for only a few weeks, yet she has gained the skills rather quickly. Her weapon of choice? Tonfa. The moment she grabbed it, her Number shined for a split second. "Well… I had to accept it one way or another… well then, Ui Hirasawa, Number III… shall we leave?" She said to herself. A few minutes later, she blew a hole for herself to escape, which sounded the alarms. It definitely would not go down well with the 'princess'.

Ui ran as far as her legs could take her, and that was pretty far away from Akiyama Towers. She stopped in an alley to catch her breath, as she had been running a good distance away. "The Shadows couldn't have caught up with me… phew." She said between breaths. However, she knew the business at hand, and that was finding her sister. She mustered up some strength in her mental power to scan the area. "Onee-chan… I'm coming." She pictured her sister in her head as she kept scanning the area, but she detected someone coming straight toward her. She immediately prepared herself as the target approached her.

"U-UI!" The younger sister recognized the voice. "How'd you get out?"

"It's nothing, Azusa-chan. But listen, we don't have much time. I need to find my sister, quickly!"

"Well, she went off to rescue you, Ui. If you got out before she reached you, something must have happened to her." Azusa told her.

"Which direction did she go?" Ui asked, concerned.

"She probably ran off that way straight to Akiyama Towers." Azusa pointed out to Ui the general direction of where Yui went.

"Right… and what are you doing out here?"

"I'm looking for Ritsu-senpai. She hasn't come home all day."

"All right, Azusa-chan, you keep searching for her. I need to save my sister!" Almost immediately, she levitated herself with her psychic powers and headed in that direction. Her mind was still wrapped around her sister's safety. _'Onee-chan… please, be safe. I'm coming to save you… Nodoka's a different person than she used to be. Don't take her lightly.'_ She thought to herself.

Ui's mission to save her sister and defeat Nodoka was on!

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	14. Hit the Floor

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 14: Hit the Floor**

Yui thought Nodoka was joking when she said 'former' best friends. The joke ended there, when Nodoka knocked Yui right back down onto the floor. 90% of the time, Yui was flat on her back. She couldn't find any response to how well Nodoka wielded her scythe.

"Maybe I'll take this time to say… is that all you've got?" Nodoka taunted, adjusting her glasses again, which only prompted Yui to kip-up from her position.

"Hell no." Yui responded. "I've got 2 minutes. I can beat you in that time." She could tell how long she had by just looking the nearly-faded out white orb next to Nodoka.

"I highly doubt it now that I know your level of ability… you're such a disgrace. Still, orders are orders. I have to wipe you off the face of the Earth."

"AS IF YOU CAN!" Yui screamed as she ran straight towards Nodoka again.

"You need to learn a new trick, dog." Nodoka sideswiped her again. Yui, however, learned over the 9 times she was knocked down. The moment Yui detected the scythe about to reach her, she jumped, used her electricity to magnetize herself onto the blade, and off the momentum of the swing, jumped off of it and kicked Nodoka in the face. All the student council president could do was eat leather to the face, as the force of the kick knocked her glasses off of her and sent her flying back, landing with a hard thud. Yui landed on both her feet, but the damage she's taken forced her to fall to one knee.

She thought, with that decisive blow, she had won it. However, that was just one blow out of the many she's tried to pull, which would mean Nodoka was still pretty strong at this point. She could only look as her opponent got up. Nodoka clutched her face, feeling around and noticing her glasses aren't on her face. She didn't mind the pain at all.

"You… Yui… You…" She muttered incoherently, before bursting out into an insane scream.

"N-Nodoka…?"

"Hehehehehe…" She snickered as she clutched her wound. "I've never been hurt THAT badly before…" Yui knew something was wrong. This definitely wasn't the Nodoka she knew. In fact, this Nodoka happened to be the complete opposite of what Yui knew of her.

"Nodoka, what's gotten into you?" Nodoka glared at Yui, the guitarist noticing the difference in Nodoka's eyes. The glasses hid away Nodoka's new attitude, which were probably obtained while working for Mio.

"What's gotten into me? That's a stupid question to ask, Yui… but thanks for giving me that hard kick to my face… as a reward, I think I'll send you to Hell like I'm supposed to!" She yelled, charging it at twice the speed she previously was moving at.

"F-Fast!" Before she could even react, Yui felt pain in her stomach as a result of a VERY hard punch by Nodoka. A sick grin was etched on Nodoka's face as she delivered a spin kick straight to Yui's chest, knocking her flat on her back once more. This new attitude was far beyond with Yui expected, but thanks to this, she isn't getting any breathing room, as she saw and felt her 'best' friend stomp her hard while she was down. "AAGH! N-NODOKA! STOP IT! T-THIS ISN'T YOU! OOOW!" She kept crying out to her, but Nodoka wasn't listening. Her hatred and jealousy had turned into a destructive force, and she was taking it all out on the one person who 'betrayed' her. Each kick she administered was made of hate and anger. Nodoka then maliciously kicked Yui hard in the stomach to force her to roll over.

Yui didn't have much answer for that. Each shot had taken more and more out of her, much to the point that she couldn't quite get up. The pain was too much for her. However, she could hear the loud scraping the scythe made when its blade was being dragged across the ground. She tried her best to even get back to her vertical base, but the pain was too much, so all she could do was crawl away, but the scythe hit the spot right next to Yui, forcing her to stop. Nodoka then picked Yui up by her hair, with every intention to finish the job.

"Hehehe… I have you right where I want you… you've only got a minute left… but I'll put you out of your misery right now, you pathetic waste." She threw Yui back down to the floor, then reeling her scythe back. "SAY YOUR PRAYERS, YUI!" She attempted to end Yui Hirasawa right there and then, bringing down the scythe toward Yui's body and attempting to kill her.

However, instead of a resounding stab through flesh, all Nodoka heard and felt was something clash with her scythe. She looked and saw someone she REALLY didn't want to see.

"Sorry, but my sister isn't going to be your victim!" Ui Hirasawa finally managed to reach her sister in time, saving her from near-certain death by blocking the downward attack with her tonfa and then shoving her off before knocking her back with a punch to her face.

"UNGH! H-how is this possible… how did you escape!" Nodoka was still taken aback at what she sees now. The one person that was held captive for a long time was now right in front of her. This was bad, even for her. "Gh… no matter… I have you both, now I can KILL you both!"

"Hold it!" Ui shouted, raising her finger at Nodoka. "Before you do anything, there's something we need to deal with. Since you've placed her at a time limit like I know you did… extend it, and place me in the same predicament as she is." Nodoka only smirked, liking that offer.

"Well… if you're so insistent about it…" In a flash, the fading soul of Yui became full again, and Ui's soul glowed next to Yui's. Ui tried her best to help Yui up, in which the older sister managed to regain consciousness after what had happened.

"U-ugh… what…?" Yui stirred, realizing she wasn't dead, but just in a lot of pain. Her vision was slightly blurry, but she looked up to clear her vision. Once it cleared, she realized she was in the arms of her younger sister. "U-UI! W-what? Wait, I was supposed to be saving you!"

"H-hehe, well…" Ui just smiled at the awkwardness. "Looks like the roles have been reversed. I came to save you instead."

"Heh… irony. Come on, Ui. We still have a big obstacle in front of us." She said, her eyes glaring toward the 'changed' Nodoka Manabe. "I think… since she's NOT Nodoka right now… I won't hold back."

"Do what you can, onee-chan. She's still your best friend at heart, remember that." Ui reminded. Yui drew out her battle fans once again.

"I know that. I just want to knock some sense into Nodoka now!" Despite the pain, Yui quickly ran right towards Nodoka, being the close range fighter instead of backup like she was used to. Ui did her utmost best to support her in any way she can.

"Heh… I'll wipe the both of you off the face of the Earth!" Nodoka came charging in as well, swinging her scythe around attempting to swipe her again. This time, Yui wised up and jumped over it, just high enough to get behind her and back-heel her into Ui's path. The psychic just smiled as she sent an A/C unit smashing into Nodoka, sending her flying.

"G-gh! Insolent little…!" Before she could complete her sentence, Yui had shot a lightning bolt straight at her, and all she could do was dodge fast, even after being hit by something heavy. "You two… are the biggest annoyances in this damn city! BEGONE!" She summoned a whole cluster of smaller scythes, letting them spin in place before sending them right towards the sisters. Noticing the danger, Yui did her best to dodge them, getting past 3 of them with a 4th one just barely scraping her neck. Ui managed to deal with her set just fine, either breaking them with her mind or diverting them to another location.

She did not, however, look out for a lurking Nodoka, who managed to grab her, administering 2 kicks to the mid-section before throwing her straight at her sister. Yui couldn't react in time and ended up colliding with her sister. "N-ngh… y-you okay, Ui-chan?"

"Y-yeah… but seriously, we need to get that scythe off of her." Ui suggested, looking at the scythe as Nodoka swung it skillfully. "That thing annoys me so much."

"Wow, something annoying you, Ui-chan." Yui said, surprised. "I'll distract her. You find a way to get that scythe off of her."

"And I've got just the thing. You keep her distracted." Ui concluded, trading fist-bumps with her sister and then separating herself from her sister.

"Oh, has Ui Hirasawa given up?" Nodoka taunted. "Hmph, so much for being a better sister."

"Sorry, but you still need to deal with me!" Yui fired off a whole barrage of lightning bolts to immobilize her, but Nodoka's quickness made sure she didn't get hit at all, and immediately changed her defense to offence, charging once more at Yui. The lone Hirasawa charged her battle fans with electricity, and then ran up to meet Nodoka. A huge lightning bolt appeared as soon as they clashed, and they kept clashing over and over again just to get the upper hand over the other. In the end, they both stalemated with both pushing each other away.

"T-tch… Where did you get this strength? You were just a pushover earlier!"

"Nodoka, you just don't know me like you have before. I'm way stronger than you now!" Yui was poised for another round. Nodoka could do nothing but contemplate the fact that with Yui much stronger now, possibly due to Ui's return, that she was at a disadvantage.

"Hmph… No matter, I'll just do THIS!" Nodoka reels back her scythe again, but this time, she feels that she can't pull it back down, no matter how hard she tries. "G-gh! U-UI HIRASAWA!"

"N-ngh…" Ui was behind her, trying her best to keep a hold of the scythe. Nodoka was fighting every inch of the way to regain control. "ONEE-CHAN, NOW!" On that signal, Yui ran up to a defenseless Nodoka.

"IT'S OVER!" She yelled, as she jumped up, spun her body like a corkscrew, and then calf kicked her in the face, similar to Kofi Kingston's Trouble in Paradise technique. The kick was powerful enough to knock Nodoka back a long way, knocking the scythe out of her hands. With that powerful kick, the fight was soundly concluded. Nodoka couldn't even get up after that. Yui ran over to the body of her best friend, and then gestured to Ui. "Ui-chan, find her glasses, quick, before she wakes up!" At her sister's request, Ui scrambled to get Nodoka's glasses, searching the whole rooftop to find them until she found them at the edge of the rooftop just about to fall off. She quickly picked it up and tossed them at Yui, who caught it and fixed it back onto Nodoka, adjusting it properly.

"You think she's all right?" Ui asked, concerned.

"Don't worry… that hit wasn't that hard. She'll come to in a minute." True enough, she saw Nodoka regain consciousness, squinting at the pain she's been dealt with. With the glasses on, at least she was normal.

"N-ngh… what… what happened?" She woke up only to find Yui and Ui both ready to strike in case she did anything funny. "…Tough crowd." Yui then squatted down, keeping eye level with the downed Nodoka.

"Nodoka… let's just get one thing clear, okay?"

"I don't need to speak to someone who's abandoned…" She was cut off via a slap to the face by Yui.

"I NEVER abandoned you, Nodoka. I only needed time… time to recover from the horrible tragedy that was the concert. Then I'd be back… to get rid of this whole ordeal once and for all." Yui then cups Nodoka's chin, making her look at her. "Besides, Nodoka-chan, why would I ever abandon one of my best friends in the whole wide world?" The comment almost made Nodoka tear up. She recalled all of the times she's stuck by her… since kindergarten, at that. But, in an attempt to look composed, she slapped Yui's hand away and immediately got up, sighing.

"F-fine… I'll acknowledge that you didn't abandon me…"

"Then there's one more thing… stop working for Mio. Join us, and we'll beat Mio and get rid of this horrid Hour together." This made Nodoka ponder for a bit. But her mind was already made up.

"…For once, Yui, I'm gonna say… no thanks." She picked up her scythe, about-faced and started walking off, but only stopped to look over her shoulder. "Besides, it's much more fun on the other side. So if I ever see you again… expect me to meet you with brute force."

"Fine! If I ever see you again, I'll beat you again, Nodoka!" Yui shouted, watching her best friend disappear into the night. "I'll see you soon… Nodoka-chan."

"Well… that's that, I guess. Come on, onee-chan, let's go home." Ui suggested, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah… let's go… though… could you carry me with your telekinesis? My leg hurts after that kick… ehehe." Yui said, which made Ui smile, albeit in disbelief, before carrying her off to the house.

**0**

Azusa, after hours of searching, finally found something that could lead her to Ritsu. She noticed a few scorched rooftops as she was searching. Possibly out of anger, Ritsu could've stepped onto these rooftops to get away from the house. Azusa was right, as the burns were leading away from the Hirasawa household. She trailed it closely to see where it led. She jumped high enough, letting the wind take her higher, until she saw something crystal-like on a big rooftop, moving slowly on the ground.

"What's that?" She wondered, redirecting the wind such that she could fall lightly onto the ground. As she investigated the charred yet cold area, the crystal-like figure became clearer to Azusa. She looked into it and saw a familiar yellow hair band… "RITSU-SENPAI!" Quickly thinking, she continuously hacked at the ice crystals with her naginata until it shattered completely. Then she helped the completely limp Ritsu and wrapped the drummer's arm around her. "Don't worry, Ritsu-senpai… we're gonna get you back home."

"N-ngh… ow… t-the cold stings… w-where's… Yui?"

"She went to save Ui… really, Ritsu-senpai, what were you thinking?"

"Shut it, Azusa…" Even in her state, Ritsu could still scoff at her. "Though… we need to set things straight now… get me home… I want to have a nice… long chat… with Yui."

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	15. My Way or the Highway

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 15: My Way or the Highway**

The long night had officially ended for the Hirasawas. Ui had carried her sister, Yui, back to their house to regroup and mend their wounds. Tsumugi and Jun were happy to see the sisters back together again, but more importantly, their leader being brought back safe and sound. Jun and Ui exchanged hugs for awhile despite Ui's somewhat battered state.

"So Yui-senpai saved you, huh?"

"Well…" Ui hesitated for a bit.

"She ended up saving me from getting killed by Nodoka." Yui finished for her.

"So Nodoka Manabe is a Number after all." Jun appraised, cupping her chin.

"The VIII has shown herself, which means there should only be one left." Yui brought up that conclusion. Seeing her sister, the III and Nodoka, the VIII in one night, that was the only thing on her mind right now.

"Now hold on, Yui-senpai, let's not go there just yet. We don't know if there's really just one person left representing a Number. Yes, I do know we're missing the I, but there could be more." Jun said, playing down that conclusion.

"Right now, that's the only thing on my mind. We need to find that Number I. I bet he or she is the reason this whole thing started, so we need to find that person, beat them, and then this whole thing is over." Yui said, already jumping onto her next plan of action.

"But it won't be easy," Tsumugi cut in. "considering we still have Mio to deal with. There's the off chance that Mio might be working for that Number I."

"Then we need to tackle Mio first. Ain't it obvious?" Their discussion was interrupted by a very injured Ritsu, who managed to make her way back thanks to the aid of Azusa.

"I found her frozen on the rooftops. Mio got to her, pretty bad too." Azusa analyzed, pointing out the hole on her knee, which made Tsumugi and Ui gasp in horror.

"O-oh dear god…" Tsumugi couldn't bear to look anymore.

"If this is what she could do to Ritsu-senpai, imagine what she could do to us." Azusa said, carrying her senpai and carefully placing her onto the couch. "Mugi-senpai, get me some bandages, quick. She's losing blood by the minute!"

"R-right…" In her shaken state, Tsumugi walked off to get the bandages. Jun, strong and collected as she was, was somewhat sick to see the huge, gaping hole present in Ritsu's knee.

"Mio… gh… Mio… trapped me in ice… my powers… completely disabled… then she just started hurting me… u-ungh…" Ritsu mustered all the strength she had left to tell them what Mio did to her, but then her later words were directed to Yui. "S-so you think she's still 'good' now, Yui?" The lead guitarist pretended to ignore that comment, knowing that the vindictive verbal assault by Ritsu was just pure hatred talking.

"Here are the bandages." Tsumugi returned, giving the bandages to Azusa.

"Thanks, Mugi-senpai." She immediately starts wrapping the bandages around the hole. "Go make some tea or something, Mugi-senpai. It'll help calm you down." Tsumugi promptly does so.

**0**

It took a while before Ritsu could sit up properly without feeling too much pain in her crocked up leg. Tsumugi had managed to calm down by making some tea for everyone, as they sat down at the living room area to assess the situation once again. At least now, they have another head to think with, in the form of Ui Hirasawa.

"Now that Ui's here… what's our plan, Yui-senpai?" Jun asked.

"If anything, with Nodoka beaten, Mio might start launching an all-out attack on us, which means we're gonna have a lot of Shadows at our doorstep."

"We'll be ready to fight them off, Yui-senpai." Azusa guaranteed.

"All that leaves is Mio and her lackey, Nodoka." Ritsu added. "So I say, we sneak in and we kick Mio's ass. We make her talk, and then we get rid of her."

"You think it's easy to get in there, Ricchan? Besides, none of us have the strength or fortitude to even face Mio right now. No disrespect, Ricchan, but not even you can take her down, not after what she's capable of doing to you." Yui told her the hateful truth.

"Well I was the closest to getting rid of her. That's a fact, right?"

"I know that, Ricchan. Still, if we are going to take down Mio, we have to work our way up first. Besides, we still don't know whether she IS our real enemy or not." This statement made Ritsu shoot up from her seat. Despite the pain in her leg, the rage felt inside her almost nullified it.

"What do you MEAN she's not our real enemy? You've seen the damage. You know what she's capable of. She's attacked ME, and had every intention of killing me, and you're STILL saying she's not our real enemy?" The rage in Ritsu's voice and tone could not be any more evident. This forced Yui to get up from her seat to go face-to-face with her, getting VERY up-close and personal.

"What's your problem, Ricchan? Mio's your best friend, and you're not even thinking that she's forced to do this? That happens to be a plausible case. So what, you don't trust my judgment?"

"It's not your judgment I don't trust, Yui. It's YOU that I don't trust." This nearly surprises the rest of the crew, but not Yui. "I don't know where your loyalties lie anymore. Are you with this team? Or are you working for Mio in secret?"

"C-come on, there's no way onee-chan would be working for Mio!" Ui tried to cut in, but Yui stopped her.

"Ui, sit down. This doesn't concern you." She turned back to the drummer. "I don't like that tone you're using, Ricchan. It's almost as if you're SURE that I'm working for Mio. Well let me tell you something, Ricchan. If I were working for Mio, I'd have killed you the next chance I got. And trust me… I could easily do it."

"You've seen the damage she's done to us. You know what she did to your sister, and now you know what she could do to me. Yet you still go out of your way to say that she ISN'T the villain in this whole incident?" Ritsu then grabs Yui by the collar. "What are you on, Yui? Tell me that!"

"You just can't see it, can you, Ricchan? She's your best friend! And you're thinking of going to kill your best friend? What kind of a friend are you?" Out of pure impulse, Ritsu hits Yui with a straight punch directly to the cheek of the lead guitarist, causing her to fall and clutch her face. "AGH!"

"Onee-chan!" Ui immediately rushed to her sister's aid. "WHAT are you doing?" She looked up at Ritsu and asked, nearly yelling the question out at her.

"You people can do whatever you like. I'm gonna go out there and beat Mio myself. I'll end this Hour myself, with no one else's help!"

"Ritsu-senpai, there's no way I'm letting you out of here with that injury!" Azusa got up from her seat. "You're just going to get yourself killed! You'll just be cannon fodder for Mio, you know that!"

"SHUT IT, AZUSA!" The incessant yelling from Azusa just annoyed her. "You can just sit here with the rest of these idiots!" She immediately walked off.

"Ritsu, wait!" Tsumugi tried to stop her, but Yui halted the keyboardist.

"No… forget it. If she doesn't want to help us… so be it." She got up, nursing the area Ritsu punched her on. "We'll stick to the plan. When Mio moves, that's when we strike." Though the atmosphere was tense, the rest of the team kept their cool, agreeing with Yui and calmed down. "If anything… being reckless isn't going to help us."

"What about Ritsu-senpai?" Jun asked. "What if she gets killed?" Yui couldn't bring herself to answer that question after what just happened. Instead of answering her, Yui immediately went upstairs, her sister in tow.

"I don't think she wants to answer you, Jun… and quite frankly, I don't think she wants to think about it."

**0**

On the other end of the city, inside Akiyama Towers, Nodoka was calm, albeit furious at the same time at her boss, Mio. Earlier, she had been defeated by the Hirasawas, but now she's questioning why Mio didn't bother to re-capture Ui Hirasawa.

"Well isn't THIS a disaster?" Nodoka paced back and forth a few steps, trying to think of what happened. "Do you have any idea? Any idea at ALL what I just went through, Mio? I didn't think so."

"What's with the sudden hostility, Nodoka? Sure, you were taken down by the Hirasawas… did you really expect to beat them so easily?" Mio snickered, as if just trying to mock her subordinate.

"VERY funny, Mio. I had Yui right where I wanted her, but then all of a sudden, Ui shows up and stops me from killing her!" She frustratingly yelled, nearly kicking over the nearest object, which was a table, over.

"Relax, will you? No one expected it anyways…"

"It was technically YOUR fault Ui escaped!" Her yell was only met by a huge stream of water, which she dodged by just moving to the side. "T-tch…"

"Don't you dare start giving me that tone, Nodoka." Mio got off her seat and turned her head to glare at Nodoka. "Remember who you're working for. I could just as easily snap you like a twig."

"…Yes ma'am. I apologize for my behavior." She kneeled down to apologize to her. Mio walked up to her and slowly raised her by cupping her chin.

"I never expected you to defeat the Hirasawas. Sure, they may have been easier alone, but together… you wouldn't have stood a chance." Nodoka just heaved a disgruntled sigh. "Besides… you're better at something else."

"…and what might that be?" Nodoka asked, inquisitively.

"You can get into their heads better than I can." Mio said, leaving a small peck on the forehead of Nodoka which made her blush.

"T-thanks, Mio…"

"Which reminds me… I need you to go capture someone for me, and she happens to be… right around the corner now." She pushes a button on her remote, where the monitors display the surveillance of the city. Sure enough, that certain someone happens to displayed on the monitor, seen limping towards the Tower.

"…I won't let you down, Mio."

"I'm sure you won't, Nodoka."

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	16. Bullet with Mio's Name

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 16: Bullet with Mio's Name**

Everyone had been on edge, ever since Ritsu's leaving of the crew. Tsumugi could not even make the tea properly, Jun had been feeling uneasy all day, and Azusa, the most concerned of all, had left to find Ritsu before she did anything stupid. Yui could only look on at the grim atmosphere in the Hirasawa household. The events of what happened the day Ritsu left were still lingering in everyone's minds, including her own. Yui would do something to calm everyone, but she had been affected greatly after those events, so much so that she couldn't utter a word to anyone when she woke up the next day. Yui decided to head back upstairs after her breakfast, seeing as she didn't want to do anything today, not even train for today, as Azusa was out.

Night had fallen, but that grim atmosphere continued to linger on.

"Do you think… Yui's going to be okay?" Tsumugi asked, looking up at the staircase leading to the rooms with Jun.

"Mugi-senpai… even I don't know the answer to that question. I think it's safe to say, however, that Yui-senpai hasn't really recovered from her argument with Ritsu-senpai yesterday." The look of concern was etched onto Tsumugi's face.

"Yui…"

"Leave her alone for a while more, Mugi-senpai… she'll be back." Jun requested, guiding Tsumugi back to the living room.

Upstairs, however, was a different story altogether. Yui was lying down on her bed sideways, letting her hair spread on her pillow, looking at a photo of her and the band together and posing for a picture at the beach. It was bad enough that she lost Mio, but now she's on the verge of losing Ritsu. She set the picture back on the table and rolled around. The feeling in her stomach hadn't subsided since Ritsu left them. "What if…" Those were the only thing she could muster at this point. She couldn't even find it in her to think about what had happened. She let a small tingle of her electricity run through her fingers, still in that thinking mode.

It took a small interruption by her sister to break that little concentration, dispersing the lightning in her hand. "Onee-chan, are you all right?" Ui asked her sister, taking her place right next to her.

"Y-yeah… Ui-chan… I-I just need a break…" She tried covering her face with her pillow, as if to shut out anyone else now. "Ui-chan… I'd like to be left alone for a while… please."

"Onee-chan…" Concerned, she telepathically took the pillow right out of Yui's hands, taking it into her hands now. "Please, onee-chan… I know things may have just taken a turn for the worst… but you have to face it."

"I know, Ui-chan…" She turned to look at her. "It's just… I don't know what I'm supposed to do now." She got out from her bed quickly. "I mean… what kind of a leader am I if I can't keep Ricchan from killing herself?"

"It's not your fault, onee-chan. Ritsu-senpai can be very impulsive."

"I KNOW! BUT I'M SUPPOSED TO BE THE ONE WHO HAS TO CONTROL HER IMPULSES!" She screamed, grabbing Ui by the collar and shaking her about. However, she realizes she's losing it and lets her go. "S-sorry…"

"I-it's all right, onee-chan." Ui said, slightly shaken by her sister's actions and words.

"Still… what am I supposed to do now? I mean… Ricchan's going to get killed… and it's gonna be all my fault." Yui whimpered, but she tried to keep her emotions in check.

"Onee-chan, relax." Ui comforted, patting her sister's head. "If you know Ritsu-senpai as much as we do… she won't die that easily." She wiped any tears trying to escape Yui's eyes, and then pulled her sister in to hug her. "You're a great leader, onee-chan. This team wouldn't have made it without you… this team wouldn't have people like Tsumugi-senpai and Jun if it weren't for you."

"Ui-chan…" Yui fully accepted her sister's embrace, returning the hug. Then she pulled away to look at her. "But now… I'm starting to wonder…" She lied back down on the bed with her sister. "I wonder if… Ricchan might be right? That maybe we've lost Mio and we'll never get that good old Mio-chan back…"

"Onee-chan, you shouldn't doubt yourself like that." Ui looked at her. "How many times have your intuitions been right?"

"…more than enough times that people might start confusing me and you… oh wait, that already happened." She giggled a bit.

"Hehe… yeah, you're right… but anyway… you know I believe in you, Onee-chan. No matter what anyone else thinks, I'll always believe in my sister." A certain warmth in Yui's heart seeped into her.

"U-ui-chan… thanks."

"Now… get out of here, and go save Ritsu-senpai." In a split second, Yui put her cap on, grabbed her battle fans, and then placed her hands on Ui's shoulders.

"You, stay here. I'm going… and thanks, Ui-chan." She left a farewell kiss on her sister's cheek, before hopping out of the window and out back into the city.

"You're welcome, onee-chan… and who said I'm staying?" She said to herself, leaving the room she was in. "I'll be helping you."

**0**

After running for as far as she could, with a giant hole in her knee and a very fatigued body, Tainaka Ritsu started regretting ever leaving the safety of the Hirasawa household. In the middle of nowhere with all her injuries, she stopped right at an alley, holding onto a garbage bin like she's going to puke into it. She's panting hard after all that running.

"G-gh… you know what, Ritsu? In the history of dumbest decisions you've ever made… this is definitely in the top 3." She said to herself, looking up into the sky. "But… as long as Yui continues staying that way… I've got no choice but to take matters into my own hands. Mio… you better get ready for me... I'm gonna be the bullet that rips your heart wide open."

However, in her monologue, she doesn't notice the curved blade of a scythe right at her neck. "Wow. That was way too easy."

"…Cheater, sneaking up behind someone like that… then again, this is coming from Nodoka, so I'm not surprised at all." Since she's already pinned down, it makes it easier for her assailant to just kick her in her already hurt leg. "AAAAAGH!"

"Don't mess with me, Ritsu. I'm moderately pissed off, and I don't need any lip from you."

"Ooh, is someone hitting that time of the year again?" That only earned her a trash can lid to the back of Ritsu's head. "GAH!" The shot made her hunch over the trash can she was leaning on. "T-tch…"

"I'm not in the mood for your stupid antics. The more I even think about it, the more I just want to rip you apart." Nodoka picked Ritsu up by her hair. "But no, Mio wants you perfectly clean when I bring you back to her." She started dragging her target by her hair across the ground, headed straight for Akiyama Towers, as usual.

"G-gh! Let go of me, you stupid…!"

"SHUT UP!" She immediately swings the back of Ritsu's head down onto the cold ground, knocking her temporarily senseless. "You're just an annoyance anyway." She continued dragging her target back to the Towers, all in plain sight of a certain psychic.

'_There you are, Ritsu-senpai… now, to tell this to onee-chan…'_ She placed her fingers on both temples, attempting to use her power to relay the message to her sister. However, in the midst of sensing her sister, she sensed a large energy interference right behind her. She turned to look, but before she could get a view of who it was, she was immediately grabbed by the collar, by someone she's ALL too familiar with. "Gah! Y-you…"

"It wouldn't be fun if somebody spoiled the party now, would it?" Mio used her free hand to grab Ui by the throat, strangling her.

"A-agh… w-what… a-are you here to… k-kill me?"

"That wouldn't be fun either, Ui… so I just came here to give you a little message. Don't you dare pursue us. If you do, then Ritsu dies… understood?" She gave Ui a terrorizing look, one that would intimidate anyone, but as for Ui, it didn't really do its job well, but knowing the position she was in, she had no choice but to comply.

"G-gh… I-I got it…" Mio immediately let her go, albeit shoving her down roughly. As Mio turned around, Ui spoke. "Why didn't you kill me, Mio? I'm your enemy… and you had a perfect chance." Mio sighed and shook her head.

"If I killed all the main actors now, then it wouldn't be a fun production now, would it, Ui Hirasawa? Besides, I need your sister."

"This is all a game to you, isn't it, Mio? You think we'll just let you off like this?" Mio turned her head to look over her shoulder.

"It'd be boring if you didn't put up any resistance against me. And besides, I'm sure your sister is stupid enough to play the 'hero' role." Ui gasped slightly.

"You will NOT have my sister, Mio. She's a bullet with your name on it, but no one's going to pull that trigger just yet!" Immediately, she lifted what was on the roof with her telepathy, which were mostly air-conditioning units. The hooded princess smirked for a bit.

"Are you sure you can take me, Ui?" She had that terrorizing look on her again, this time nearly intimidating the psychic. Instead of pursuing the matter further, Ui dropped her weapons and stepped back. Even if she was the stronger of the 2 Hirasawas, there was no way she'd be able to defeat Mio. "Good girl. Now remember what I said, and no one gets hurt… I want to have 'fun' with my best friend." Mio kept walking until she hopped off the rooftop. Ui waited for that moment to contact her sister.

"…did you get all that, onee-chan?"

"Loud and clear, Ui-chan. So, Mio wants me, no?" She asked, looking up into the sky.

"Yeah… onee-chan, I know that tone when I hear it… don't get yourself killed, okay?" Ui advised.

"Don't worry, Ui-chan. Just tell the rest of the crew to prepare themselves." She cut off transmissions with her sister. "So if Mio wants me to be the main actress, then don't mind me making a pre-determined appearance then."

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	17. Cruelty Act, a Heart of Cold

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 17: Cruelty Act, a Heart of Cold**

Nodoka Manabe and the word 'patience' usually fit in a sentence. After all, she had been the student council president for a long time. Therefore she needed the patience to tolerate anything in the world coming from her classmates or schoolmates. But with Mio, she could forget about patience. As such, she barely had any when she had to tolerate Ritsu. She had to stop every 10 minutes to silence her every time she spoke.

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief the moment she stepped into the Towers, dragging the dead weight that was the certainly bruised up Ritsu. She immediately took her up to the highest floor of the Tower and then tossed Ritsu onto the floor harshly, completely aggravated by her antics. Ritsu groaned in pain when she landed roughly onto the floor. Adding insult to injury, Nodoka kicked Ritsu's hurt knee again.

"G-GAH! What the Hell's wrong with you, Nodoka! This isn't how you act at all…" This only earned her yet another kick to the stomach. "OW!"

"I don't care what people say about me anymore. I had to take a lot of their complaints and requests. No more. No more will I be subjected to that! I'm not going to be taken advantage of!"

"My, my, isn't Nodoka pissed today?" A returning Mio said.

"And where have YOU been, Mio?" She asked, sounding very annoyed at this point.

"Oh, just chasing off some rats. What's your excuse?"

"I got what you wanted." She points to Ritsu, her target. Mio had a creepy smile on her face when she saw her delivery.

"Ohoho… I'm going to have so much fun with you, Ritsu."

"That's… not really what I had planned for a housewarming party." Ritsu cheekily said, which, once again, earned her another kick to the stomach.

"That's enough out of you! Learn some respect."

"Now, now, let's not break the toy. Nodoka, could you be a dear and make sure to rats try to chase us?" Mio ordered. Nodoka, still exasperated, grumbled as she left through the front door. Once she left, all that was left for Mio is her best friend, Ritsu, and how to deal with her.

In Ritsu's perspective, however, it was a completely different story. That same feeling of death that hit her last time returned. It was almost as if she was brought to the Devil itself. But being the spunky girl she was, she could not show any fear, even in front of someone who could kill her in a blink of an eye.

"Heh… nice place, Mio. Who does your interior designing? Never mind that… so what's the meaning of all this, bringing me all the way here?"

"Simple, Ritsu…" She soon walked closer to her best friend, cupping her chin. "I just want to spend some quality time with my best friend. And what better way than to bring you here, Ritsu?"

"Does this 'quality time' mean you're just gonna beat the living Hell out of me?" Promptly, Mio lands a hard punch right to Ritsu's gut, causing her to drop to her fours in pain. "G-gh… k-knew that was coming…"

"Oh, Ritsu, you know me too well." Mio said, stomping on Ritsu's left hand, causing her to groan in pain. She went over to her right hand next and stomped on that, trying to hurt her on every one of her body parts. When she reached her injured leg, however, Mio stomped on it extremely hard to deal some excruciating pain to it, forcing her to scream out in pain again. "Ooh… music to my ears."

"A-agh… you heartless woman… g-gh…" She said, but it wasn't like she could do anything to help her cause, considering she was laid out on her belly taking in all this punishment. She then gets pulled up by the hair, forced to stand up.

"You're slow on that front, Ritsu." Mio puts Ritsu in a rear-naked choke, trying to further her suffering as the drummer tries desperately to break out of it.

"N-nkh… s-so what? You're just gonna keep beating me up here? That's the reason you brought me here?" In response, Mio tightened the hold that bit more, increasing the pressure around her throat.

"Now if I wanted to make you suffer, why would I do it so unglamorously? Besides, I brought you here because I want you to hear me out…" She brought her head down to Ritsu's ear, whispering into it. "You hate Yui, don't you?" Ritsu's eyes widened. She immediately elbowed Mio just to get away and distance herself away from her.

"Tch… what makes you think I do, huh? And what's it to you anyway?" She asked, being cautious of Mio's movements to make sure she's not planning to strike at her.

"Oh Ritsu… I know you. You came here all on your lonesome just to get at me, even with that injury. Valiant… but don't you think it's reckless of you?"

"You're asking that to the WRONG person, Mio." She tests out the area. Sure enough, she can neither ignite her hands, nor create anything fire-related, which meant she was a sitting duck once again. "Tch…"

"And I know… since you're here, you've obviously had a little tiff with Yui. So you thought that you'd get rid of me to show her… right?" Ritsu was slightly dumbfounded. It was as if Mio's been reading her mind all this time. But she couldn't really deny it anymore. Mio was right, so all she could do was look away and give a slight nod. "See? I knew it all along."

"Just keep that mouth of yours shut. You're annoying me… so what's it to you, huh? Yeah, I did get into an argument with Yui. So what?" This was just an opportunity for Mio to reel Ritsu into her arms, once again grabbing Ritsu from behind, but this time out of endearment instead of torment.

"So… I was hoping that… with your power, we'd get rid of Yui… and then her friends… and then we'll take over this world, no?" After hearing that, Ritsu just couldn't believe it. Worded right, Mio was actually asking her to join forces. Hearing this ridiculousness, Ritsu grabbed Mio's arm and tried to squeeze it.

"You'd think… I'd betray Yui and the rest of the crew over a stupid argument about you? In the end, Mio, the outcome's still the same… you're STILL going to die!" In a swift move, she quickly flipped Mio over her head, letting her go and backing off to get away from Mio before she tries anything again. Mio landed with a hard thud onto the ground.

"U-ungh… well, Ritsu… that was good… it's to be expected of my 'best friend'." Mio quickly gets up, but instead of turning around to face her, she just dusted off the dirt on her shoulders. "Well then, I'll have no worries about you boring me out there on the battlefield… you're free to go."

"…Huh?" Ritsu was puzzled by Mio's statement. "Free to go? What, no intention to kill?"

"Not really… but I do want to leave a… parting gift." She walked up to Ritsu, staring into her eyes. "It's something I should have done some time ago, Ritsu…" She said with her voice soft and tender. In the span of two seconds, Mio embraced her best friend and lip-locked her, giving her a tight, passionate kiss. Ritsu was slightly stunned by this, but slowly, the warmth she felt in Mio's kiss slowly made the feeling dissipate. What she didn't realize, however, was that this was just the beginning of something far more sinister.

As soon as Mio broke the kiss, she licked her lips, savoring the taste of her best friend's kiss. Ritsu was still slightly stunned, but she had that face of enjoyment. "Never thought… I'd be kissed by the enemy…" She said, but the moment she tried to step away, she couldn't. Something had been locking her into place. When she looked down, she found that her feet had been encased in ice. "What in the… you piece of…!"

"Hoohoohoo… you're just as dumb as you look." Slowly, the ice started encasing the rest of her body, starting with her legs, and then going up to her thighs, and then her lower body.

"…tch… I'll freaking… get you for this, Mio… I'LL FREAKING KILL YOU!" She points at her threateningly. At that point, however, her upper body was slowly being encased as well, freezing her in that pose. "G-gh…"

"Well… that is, if you CAN get out of there… I highly doubt you can." The sinister Mio watched Ritsu be fully encased in ice, becoming an ice statue for her amusement. She glared into Ritsu's eyes. The cold stare was evident. "You only have 24 hours to live, Ritsu… best say your prayers while you're still in there." She whipped out her cell phone and proceeded to call Nodoka. "Oh, Nodoka, are there any rats outside?"

"No, Mio… the streets are quiet tonight." Nodoka answered.

"Then go out on patrol… and find a perfect spot for us." She ordered, hanging up on her the moment she gave it. She turned back to admire her latest work of art, but lo and behold, she found yet another one of her targets waiting for her. "…who invited you, Yui Hirasawa?"

"You did, Mio. You have my sister to thank for that. She told me you wanted me… so I'm right here."

"That little brat… well, I did tell HER not to follow me, and not you… so it's all fair game." She showed her the frozen Ritsu. "Do you like my newest masterpiece?"

"You're so conceited, Mio."

"Why don't you give Ritsu your last goodbyes, Yui? She's going to die anyway, and there's nothing you can do about it." Yui glared at Mio, before shifting her focus back to Ritsu, whose eyes can be seen moving, looking at Yui.

"No… I'll just give her a piece of advice. If she claims to be so good, she'd be able to get herself out of there." She winked at the frozen statue, and then re-shifted her focus back to Mio. "Now, I believe this is the first time we've ever spoken like this, correct?"

"Hmm… you're right. We've never really seen eye-to-eye like this. It feels awkward… I didn't have time to give you a present. Oh well, this ice statue should suffice."

"…No thanks. But you know what would be a great present?" She asked, promptly cracking her knuckles. "If I beat you right here, right now." The sound of a challenge brought back the smirk to Mio's face, and she's relish this challenge in particular. Considering it was Yui who's issued it, she wet her lips, taking further interest.

"Oh how I've waited for this day, Yui Hirasawa… that you'd fall right into my arms… by the way, I hope you're keeping that Legends Guitar of yours clean, because I'm going to take it from you." She drew her katana, readying herself in a fighting stance.

"So you're after it too… I'm not surprised. But you'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands if you want it, Mio!" She took out her battle fans and got into her own battle stance, glaring straight at Mio and watching for any sudden movements.

"That can be arranged, Yui… and I'm sure Number I will be pleased." Yui's ears perked up a bit, hearing that from Mio.

"You know who Number I is?"

"Of course… but wouldn't YOU like to know it? Defeat me, Yui… I'll tell you who it is." Mio challenged, with that sickening smirk still evident on her face. Both of them glared at the other hard. This was finally the moment. The two of them would finally be able to square off… or so they thought. As Mio took a step forward, a light shone in from in front of her, blinding the hooded one and Yui. Both of them tried to cover their eyes, with Mio looking away from it entirely. Yui tried to look, as a figure started to materialize from it.

"No… you won't use me for this!" Yui heard the voice coming from the figure, and it's unmistakable. The figure, the uniform, the voice, it was all too familiar for Yui. She finally managed to get a clear view of the figure.

"M… Mio?" She called out.

"It's me, Yui, the real Mio! Listen! Get out of here now! She's planning to trap you here just like she did to Ritsu! The Number I made this fake me to fool you!"

"Wait, you know the Number I?" Yui asked her quickly.

"Yes, and she's gunning for you Legends Guitar! She's… AAAAAAAAAGH!" Before she could finish her sentence, Yui saw her being grabbed by what looked like tendrils, snagging her and dragging her back into the darkness by her throat, cutting off her air supply.

"MIO!" Yui yelled, trying to reach for her arm at least, but the light had dissipated, and she was grabbing thin air. All she could see was a hunched-over hooded Mio.

"G-gh… so she had some willpower left… h-heh… no matter… she'll stay in the darkness like she's supposed to…" Without any warning, the hooded Mio shot out ice needles right at Yui, barely giving any time for the guitarist to dodge. Yui made a mad rush for the window she came through, getting nicked once or twice on the arms by the ice needles. "I'LL GET YOU, YUI HIRASAWA! BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, I WILL GET YOU!" She screamed out, incensed after Yui had found out of this shocking revelation. She also had questions to answer herself. Why wasn't she able to suppress the real Mio this time around?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Nodoka slammed the door open. She examined the room to see that the whole place had been iced over. She could only conclude that the hooded Mio got ticked off. "Mio…" The hooded one glanced over at her subordinate when she heard her voice. "What… happened here?"

"It doesn't matter…" She replied, appeared to have calmed down after the whole debacle. "And did you do your job?"

"I did… but then I came back and… well, here you are." Mio grabbed Nodoka by the collar, pulling her in violently.

"Tell me… TELL ME WHERE WE CAN FINISH THIS!" She yelled, her calm instantly broken.

"G-gh… S-Sakurakou High School… what better place to finish Yui and her crew off than right there?" The smirk that hooded Mio trademarked returned.

"Hehehe… perfect. That will be their graveyard. Everyone will know that their favorite little band died at their own school."

"T-THAT WON'T HAPPEN, YOU… AAAAGH!" The real Mio, still inside of the hooded one, yelled in pain as she was dragged deeper down into darkness.

"Like you can do anything about it, me… Nodoka, deliver the message."

"…At your service, Mio." She headed out the door and left, perhaps headed to the Hirasawa house to deliver that message. The hooded one, at her own will, re-summoned the real Mio at her own will, being held by the dark tendrils so as to not let her escape. Her struggles to escape those tendrils have caused her to tire, so she was left panting and trying to catch her breath. To worsen it, the hooded Mio wrapped her fingers around her throat, strangling her.

"N-ngh… y-you'll… never get away with this… you're… just a copy of me… that the Number I made…! But now that Yui knows… she won't relent at all." Before she could continue, she was met with a straight punch to her cheek, causing her to groan in pain.

"And just what makes you think you can do anything to stop me? Hmm? I think you need another punishment… time to return to darkness, Mio." The hooded Mio grabbed the real one and forced her to come close, as if sucking her into her.

"N-NO! LET GO OF ME! I-I'M NOT GOING BACK THERE!" But slowly, Mio was fading right into the hooded Mio, being dragged back into darkness. She screamed at the top of her lungs before being completely sucked back in. The hooded Mio let out a satisfying moan after 'consuming' her before giving off that trademark smirk.

"Well guess what? I'm going to have fun playing with the corpses of your friends, Mio… it'll make HER so much happier." She said in a rather chilling tone, grabbing her katana and then heading for the statue of Ritsu. "There there, Ritsu… you just sit tight and let the big girls play…" She caressed the statue, with the somewhat alive Ritsu looking from where she's frozen. She headed straight out the door. "Well then, time to have a little fun, Yui. Hehehehe…"

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	18. The Plan of Action

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 18: The Plan of Action**

Yui Hirasawa's mad rush out of Akiyama Towers continued as she continued leaping from building to building, using her electricity to jump over huge gaps if need be to reach home. She saw everything, but she couldn't believe it yet. She DID, however, see the real Mio out of the hooded one. That was for certain. She made one last leap off a tall building, landing on the empty roads before quickly breaking into a sprint, headed straight back home.

When she opened the door, she started panting. Azusa happened to be headed out when she noticed her leader wheezing and panting for air. "Y-Yui-senpai! You're back!"

"H-hah… A-Azu-nyan… gather everyone… we need to… talk…" She said, slowly fading into unconsciousness after using her powers to run. Azusa caught her as she fell, her concern being shown on her facial expression.

"YUI-SENPAI! C-come on, don't faint on me, Yui-senpai!" Azusa quickly dragged her senior onto the couch and laid her flat to make sure she's comfortable. She then went upstairs and called the rest of the crew down. When they saw Yui in the state she was in, Tsumugi and Jun quickly administered aid to her, trying to help her regain consciousness as quickly as possible. It took only a few minutes for the guitarist to stir, but took her a bit more to realize what happened to her.

"U-ungh… damn… I must've used too much of my power again just running here." She said. Azusa decided to quickly frisk her, before pulling out the suppressants from her pocket. She scowled before giving Yui a tight slap to the face. "OUCH! A-Azu-nyan, what was that for?" The rhythm guitarist showed her the packet, which was still completely full.

"You didn't USE any of this!" Azusa yelled, grabbing her senior by the collar. "I told you, Yui-senpai, but do you listen? NO!"

"G-geez, alright, alright, I'm sorry!" Azusa, ticked off, released her, letting out a sigh before going back to her seat.

"All right… Yui, first of all… where's Ritsu?" Tsumugi asked her. Yui only looked down, extremely disappointed in herself. However, she still needed to give an answer to the crew.

"…When I got there, it was too late. She's completely encased in ice… basically, she's an ice statue." Tsumugi let out a short gasp, with Jun and Azusa following.

"You mean she's…" Jun asked, fearing the worst coming from Yui.

"She has 24 hours to live."

"Then we need to go save her!" Azusa almost jumped out of her seat saying that, but Yui raised a hand to that notion, telling her to sit back down.

"This is Ricchan we're talking about. I told her… if she's so good, she could escape by herself."

"Yui-senpai!" Azusa yelled again. "T-that's just cruel, leaving Ritsu-senpai like that!"

"If I know Ricchan, Azu-nyan, she'll be able to break out of the ice. If she can't, there's nothing more I will say." Yui told her, sipping some of the tea Tsumugi made. "But I trust Ricchan. During this whole fiasco with the concert, I've trusted both you and Ricchan a lot, even if she did attack me when she saw me back then." Azusa just sat right back down again, scoffing slightly at Yui's alleged irresponsibility.

"What else did you see, Yui? There must be more." Tsumugi asked, continuing their discussion.

"…What if I told you right now that the Mio we know and fear… isn't even Mio?" This raised a few eyebrows from the remaining crew members, a bit puzzled as to what they just heard. "I know, I'd have that reaction too if you saw what I saw." She took another sip of her tea to quench her thirst before continuing. "The Mio that we've been fighting all this time isn't the real Mio. The real one is inside of the fake. The problem is getting her out of the darkness and back to our side."

"Well, we won't have to hold back now, right?" Jun asked, slightly bit thrilled after hearing this. "I'll make her pay for what she did to me… and then we'll rid her of all her treachery." But just like she did to Azusa before, Yui raised her hand to that notion.

"Hold your horses, Jun. There's one problem with that. If we went ahead and just killed her now, we risk losing the real Mio as well."

"Then what are we supposed to do, Yui?" Tsumugi continued.

"Simple. We need to weaken Mio enough to split the real Mio from the fake Mio. Whatever happens to the fake Mio after that is beyond my control."

"But that's easier said than done, isn't it?" Ui said, coming down the stairs and joining the group.

"Like always. Most of the jobs me and Azu-nyan have been in have NEVER been easy." Yui took another sip of the tea before placing her cup and coaster down. Tsumugi got up from her seat and looked out the front window.

"So this is it, huh? We finally get our chance to take Mio on… I heard she's done scary things, but I've yet to witness it." Tsumugi said. Yui got up and placed a hand on her shoulder, showing her support towards the keyboardist.

"And she hasn't witnessed your fine Earth abilities. So let's put THAT to our advantage as well. With Ricchan gone for the moment, it's up to us to take out this fake Mio and free the real one from her clutches." However, she couldn't continue her pep talk as she was interrupted by her cell phone receiving a message. She checked the message, but then went completely silent for a while after reading it, which raised Azusa's curiosity.

"Yui-senpai, what's up?"

"Guys… we don't have much time after all." She showed the message to the rest of the crew. "Tomorrow night, we're all wanted at Sakurakou High School. Looks like Mio wants to end this, especially if she's getting Nodoka to send me this."

"And how do you know this IS going to be the end of the line, Yui-senpai?" Azusa asked her.

"She would've sneak attacked us by now and killed us all if she didn't send this message. This time, she wants us to be there, so that she can try to get rid of us one-by-one. Well, isn't she in for one hell of a shock, huh?" She looked at the rest of the crew. "Even without Ricchan… we'll be able to take her and Nodoka out. So everyone… get a good night's rest. Tomorrow night… we finish this once and for all, got it?" The rest of the girls nodded, and quickly left and went back to their rooms. This left Tsumugi and Yui alone in the living room.

"That was inspirational, Yui." Tsumugi commended, giggling a bit as she turned back to look out the window. "Say, Yui… do you think we even stand a chance against Mio? I mean, she's supposed to be all-powerful and all that, right?"

"We won't know the full extent of her power until we fight her tomorrow night, Mugi-chan. I suggest you get some sleep too." Yui suggested, placing a hand on Tsumugi's shoulder. But Tsumugi was rather defiant on this night.

"Yeah, but… I seem so excited for some reason. We're finally going to end this, and this is the first… and possibly last time we face Mio. I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight…" She was interrupted by a surprise, however, as Yui wrapped her arms around Tsumugi, feeling the guitarist's face buried at her neck. "Y-Yui? W-what're you doing?" This made Tsumugi blush a bit.

"I know you're excited, Mugi-chan, but… please, I need you at full strength tomorrow. I want you fighting at your best, Mugi-chan. Reason being… I don't want to lose you. I almost did back then and now… I vow to protect my friends from having to suffer at the hands of Mio. So please, Mugi-chan… go and rest." Tsumugi could feel the concern and anxiety for her in Yui's voice, and let out a sigh.

"All right, all right, Yui. I'm gonna head up to bed… could you let me go now?" Tsumugi said, and at that moment, Yui turned her around to look at her, before giving a small peck to her lips. "Y-Yui!" Tsumugi was slightly taken aback at Yui's actions.

"I'm worried about you mostly, Mugi-chan… now get your butt in bed." She pushes her up to her bedroom, with the keyboardist aptly doing so. Yui then looked out the window Tsumugi was looking out of, pondering and thinking out loud. "So, Mio, you want to end this once and for all, huh? You've got your wish, and you're gonna regret taking hold of my best friend…" Slowly, the electricity started enveloping around her. This was to show her true emotions towards the fake Mio. Usually, she was cool and collected when it came to this, but she couldn't hold back anymore. After what the fake Mio tried to do to Tsumugi, what she witnessed at the Tower with Ritsu, and of course, taking the real Mio into the darkness, this was the amount of rage that had built up over the course of just a few weeks. "No more holding back, Akiyama. No more."

**0**

Nodoka looked at her phone after sending the message to Yui's phone. She quickly closed it as soon as she saw her boss, Mio, approach her and place her hand on her subordinate's shoulder. Nodoka looked into the eyes of Mio, staring into it like the stars in the sky. "W-what is it, Mio?"

"Nodoka… you've sent it, correct?"

"Y-yes, Mio… they've got the message. They'll be ripe for the picking tomorrow night. It'll be the last Dead Hour they'll ever witness." She answered.

"Good… tomorrow night is when we fulfill our destinies, Nodoka. We destroy the pests trying to get in the way of our goal. Then we take that Legends Guitar from Yui Hirasawa… by any means necessary, correct?" However, Mio could feel some doubt coming from her subordinate as Nodoka looked down when Yui's name was mentioned. "…What's wrong?"

"H-huh? No… it's nothing… just…" Mio cut her off before she could continue.

"Then tell me, Nodoka… tell me where your loyalties lie. I know Yui said something to you… so tell me now. Where do your loyalties lie?" Nodoka's doubt was immediately erased, when she looked up at Mio to answer.

"You know damn well I'm only loyal to you, Mio. I'd never let Yui's words sway me." This only served to bring that smirk on Mio's face, acknowledging Nodoka's loyalty.

"All right… now go to sleep. You have a big night tomorrow, and you'll need your strength." Nodoka nodded, quickly running back to her room. Mio then looked out the huge window overlooking the city. "I'm coming for you, Yui… that Legends Guitar is coming to me whether you like it or not… after that, your blood will be spilled all over the roads…" She chuckled a bit, before breaking into a more maniacal laugh. Once she was done, she turned her attention to the real Mio, speaking to her whilst she was inside her. "Oh, don't worry, Mio… you can have a front row view of what I'm going to do to Yui… hehehehe…" All the real Mio could was cringe at her tone of voice. She had no way of escaping from the fake Mio's body, nor the darkness.

But it was already established. The final battle was due tomorrow night. Will it be the last Dead Hour for Yui and her crew, or will it lead to the salvation of the real Akiyama Mio?

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	19. One Step Closer

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 19: One Step Closer**

Kotobuki Tsumugi looked at the clock, anxiously waiting for it to strike twelve. There was only 10 minutes left on it until the Dead Hour came in. Azusa was on the couch, cleaning her naginata and clearing it of any dust. Jun checked her sword skill while also working on her footwork and Ui was working on her focus. Yui came down the staircase after checking her own abilities out in her room. She sees the crew who, aside from Tsumugi, are practicing. She knew what today meant for them, so it explained why everyone was on edge. She went over to Tsumugi, who blushed when she saw her coming down. She remembered what Yui did the night before.

"Mugi-chan, are you doing okay?" She asked, running a hand through the keyboardist's hair.

"Y-yeah… I got some good sleep last night. I'm prepared for anything tonight." Tsumugi answered, bringing a smile to Yui's face, but now wasn't time for laughs anymore. The rest of her crew was depending on her leadership to get them through this fated night. She looked over her crew, who turned their attention to their leader. Yui took in a long, deep breath before giving her pep talk to the crew.

"I know what you guys are thinking right now. On your faces, I can see the doubt and the uncertainty. One question lingers in your minds. 'Can I beat Mio and end this once and for all?' Now I know some of us have been in close contact with Mio but they were smacked down hard by her. But let me tell you something, guys. Mio… no, we'll call her Akiyama from now on. Reason being, I refuse to address her as the one Mio we all know and love. Akiyama isn't invincible. She's not immortal, and she's sure as hell beatable. All I ask right now is for your support. Whether you have to face Mio, Nodoka or even the thousands of shadows that she has in her command, I want you to give your all and fight like your lives depended on it! Just remember one thing, guys… she's not invincible. Got it?" The team gave Yui an assuring nod, priming themselves up for the fight of their lives.

"We'll do whatever it takes, Yui-senpai." Jun answered.

"You know I'll never let you down, ever after what we've been through together." Azusa added, showing her willingness to fight for Yui.

"We'll take her down… by any means." Ui showed her own sister the most support, as any sister would show.

"Then let's move out. Our destiny awaits us." With that, Jun, Ui and Azusa stood ready. Yui took the first steps out of the house, leading her crew out. "Akiyama… you're going down."

**0**

The purple hooded sweater flapped about as the wind blew against it. Akiyama stood tall on the rooftop of the school, looking as if she owns the place, and rightfully so, since she already declared herself as the most important person in Japan. She looked over the rest of the Dead Hour-ridden city, watching her Shadows wreak havoc. "…what a beautiful sight." She murmured. Her focus was interrupted when she felt her subordinate's aura.

"They're late, Mio… I think they're probably quivering in their boots right now at the thought of facing you after all this time." Akiyama, however, gave Nodoka a displeased glare.

"First, they WILL be here, Nodoka. They wouldn't give up the chance to get even with me. And two…" She slowly stepped toward her, immediately wrapping her hand around her throat and choking her slowly, applying the pressure gradually. "Do NOT call me that anymore. Refer to me as 'Akiyama' from now on… I refuse to be associated with that vile cretin inside me."

"A-agh… y-y-yes, ma'am…" Nodoka managed to say, albeit in a raspy tone. Akiyama lets her subordinate go, leading to Nodoka coughing a bit and gasping for a bit of air.

"Well, well… look who finally showed up to the party." Akiyama said, pointing out to Nodoka that Yui's crew had just arrived.

"Too bad we're going to be the party-crashers." Nodoka added.

"Well… why don't you be the highlight of the party, Nodoka? Get them." Akiyama commanded. Nodoka only nodded before jumping off the rooftop, landing on her feet and waits for them at the front gate.

The crew marched forward, looking at the very place they have spent most of their time together for quite a long time. "This is it…" Jun said, knowing the atmosphere is very heavy right now. Yui stopped short of the school gate, not stepping in just yet.

"Yui-senpai, what's wrong?" Azusa asked.

"…If I know Akiyama, she'd want me to go in there alone. She'd want me because she gets to 'play' with me and utterly destroy me…" She turned to look at her crew. "I'm going in alone. You guys just worry about the Shadows… and if Nodoka decides to come out, take her down."

"But Yui, that's way too dangerous! What if the Shadows attack you?" Tsumugi, in a concerned tone, asked.

"That won't happen. Akiyama want me unscathed when we meet. You guys… you need to worry about yourselves. So stay here." Yui commanded, and though they were reluctant, Tsumugi, Azusa, Jun and Ui just nodded. Ui in particular gave her sister a hug.

"Don't die on us, onee-chan… we need you."

"Don't worry, Ui-chan… all right, I'm going." Yui said, as Ui let her go, watching her sister turn around and head straight into the school. All they had to worry about were the Shadows and NOT Akiyama or Nodoka.

As she entered, she felt the tension rise. She had the cold stare of her best friend watching her as she entered, drawing closer and closer to the girl with the scythe. She knew she had to deal with Nodoka first. The last time these two butted heads, Nodoka had the upper hand, and Yui needed the help of her sister to beat her.

"So you've arrived, Yui…"

"Cut to the chase, Nodoka. Where's Akiyama? I want to finish this right here, right now!" She exclaimed which only served to humor Nodoka.

"Heh… you really think I'm going to let you just waltz in and see her? I can't do that, Yui… not after what you and your sister did to me."

"I don't have time for you, Nodoka!" She quickly grabs her battle fans, charging them with electricity and dashes right for Nodoka, not wasting any more time. The president, however, wasn't having any of it and attempted to sideswipe her with her scythe. However, since that battle, Yui had wised up, not falling for it, immediately jumping at her and kicking her straight into the wall. She groaned in pain but immediately recovered and tried to give chase. But as she did, though, she was instantly blocked off by a rock wall. She turned right around to see the quadruple team of Ui, Azusa, Tsumugi and Jun behind her. She knew it was Tsumugi's earth powers that did this. All she did was chuckle at the state she was in now; 4-against-1 with no way for her to run.

"Well… ain't this a quaint little pickle I'm in… you got lucky this time, Yui."

"Quit talking to yourself, Nodoka." Azusa exclaimed, not even respecting her with the 'senpai' tag. "You're already crazy as is."

"You leave Yui to her own demons. You've got US to deal with." Tsumugi stated.

"Heh…" Nodoka took her glasses off, and only 1 out of the 4 of them knew what this meant. "That means I'll be able to cut you ALL up into nice fine pieces of meat!"

"Careful, guys… with those eyes, she'll be tough to beat…" Ui warned.

"You heard what Yui said, guys. If we see her, we take her down!"

**0**

Yui ran up the all-too-familiar stairs she's been walking up for all her years in this school. She could feel where Akiyama is, and she knew the one place that Akiyama would go to meet her.

The music room.

She nearly smashed open the door to the room, and lo and behold, Akiyama was seated where the real Mio would usually sit, her legs and arms crossed. She looked up to see the guitarist, and gave off that smirk once again.

"So… you've finally arrived, Yui." She said. Yui clenched her fist, restraining herself from just rushing over and punching her. "Just so I can kill you… correct?"

"Not on your life, Akiyama. I came here for two things… releasing Mio-chan, and defeating you… and subsequently, getting rid of the Dead Hour." Yui said firmly, but something had made Akiyama chortle. "What's so funny?"

"Your dear friend Mio… I'll NEVER let her go." Yui pounded on the table hard, stating her case.

"YOU LET HER GO NOW!"

"And what're you gonna do about it, cry? Akiyama taunted. Yui could only grit her teeth and grip the chair hard knowing that attacking her now would be a foolhardy move, so all she could was take in any insult that was thrown at her, glaring at the face of her enemy. "Now… do you think killing me will get rid of the Dead Hour?"

"…Honestly, no. But I'll be one step closer to it though."

"See, that's what you WOULD be; a step closer to getting rid of the Dead Hour. Just like how I'm a step closer to getting rid of you and your friends… and then taking over this world. Just like how I'm a step closer to getting that Legends Guitar out of you and giving it to that Number I." Akiyama said, but Yui was having none of it.

"Do you really think so, Akiyama? Do you really think you'll be able to kill me AND my friends? Do you REALLY think that Number I is going to get that guitar out of me, huh?" At that point, as if on cue, Akiyama's phone rang.

"Hold that thought, Yui." She immediately answered it. "Hello~? Mm-hmm… oh, it's for you, Yui. It's Nodoka." She tossed the phone at Yui, who caught it quickly and placed it on her ear.

"_Look out the window… I left a BIG surprise for you."_ Nodoka said in a creepy tone. Yui, fearing the worst, did so, and to her horror, she saw her friends decimated and laid out onto the floor. To make matters worse, Nodoka had kept hold of Azusa's throat for some time, squeezing it hard until she passed out. And as a spectacle of her prowess, Nodoka punched Azusa in the chest, which pushed her at full speed into the school wall. The pain Azusa felt through her body was brutal. Nodoka then stepped over Jun's body before slowly going towards Tsumugi, which instantly made Yui snap.

"Don't you DARE touch Mugi-chan! Don't you dare!" She screamed into the phone. This act only provided entertainment for Akiyama. Watching Yui go frantic must have been amusing to her.

"Oh, man… this is just too funny to watch." Yui turned right back to Akiyama.

"You keep your mouth shut, Akiyama, or so help me I'm going to…!" She couldn't complete her sentence, as an ice needle was flung straight at her. She quickly dodged it, but found herself on the receiving end of a gut punch. Akiyama continued the onslaught with a flurry of punches and kicks, all aimed to damage Yui further. The guitarist could barely do anything to fight back, as she was in too much pain, and she was pinned down for good measure. All she could do was block, but even that wasn't enough to reduce her pain. Akiyama laid down the exclamation point by planting her face violently into the ground, moving into position to whisper something into her ears.

"What ARE you going to do, Yui? I'm curious to know… no, wait, don't answer that. I already know the answer… absolutely nothing." The coldness of her voice brought chills to Yui's spine, but the guitarist still tried to find a way to get herself out of this situation. Sure enough, from her position, she pointed her finger at Akiyama and fired off a lightning bolt from it, forcing Akiyama to dodge it and back off, leaving Yui enough room to get away. They both went back to a standstill, both waiting for the other to make a move. Akiyama was giggling after what Yui did. "That's right… I can feel the anger inside you, Yui… Go on, strike me down." She challenged.

Yui was almost reluctant to. If she did, would Akiyama be proving something about Yui? That she'd been acting on impulse thanks to every single action Akiyama's been doing? She didn't have time to think about all this, however.

"So, Yui… since I've got your anger out now, I guess you'll have enough strength to face me. But… you have to make a choice now." Akiyama pointed out the window. "Are you going to let your anger get the best of you and let them die? Or are you going to save them?" Yui had to think for this. If she did go after Akiyama, her friends, including her new love interest, Tsumugi, would die. But if she DID leave Akiyama to save them, then she'd be letting Akiyama do whatever she needs to do. Akiyama decided to leave Yui to her decision, jumping out the window quickly.

"HEY!" Yui yelled, trying to stop her. She took one step out the window, but immediately stepped back, knowing she still had a big decision to make. Go after Akiyama and risk killing off her friends, or save her friends but allow Akiyama to get away with murder.

It was the WORST time to be indecisive.

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	20. Viva La Akiyama

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 20: Viva La Akiyama**

Nodoka was having too much fun outside, as she smacked Jun down onto the floor harder than ever. The sounds of agony were just music to her ears. When she was done with Jun, she spied Ui almost recovering from her dose of punishment. Nodoka went over to her and stomped her right on the back, pushing her back down.

"U-ungh…" She groaned, only to have her face stomped down my Nodoka's foot.

"This… is for what you and your idiot sister did to me." She drove her foot into Ui's face that bit more, looking up at the place where Yui's supposed to be. "Heh… she's probably killing herself by now… well, it'd be TOO bad if she committed suicide right there. I guess Akiyama's gotten into her head…" She was cut off by a huge boulder flung right at her. She detected it at the last second and dodged right out of the way.

"Don't you EVER shut up about Yui?" Tsumugi said, cracking her knuckles. "She's not going to kill herself and I'm definitely sure Akiyama hasn't gotten to her either."

"Heh… if she was so tough she'd be chasing after her by now… but no, she has to think of you people too. That's just undeniable proof that she doesn't have the will to finish her job." She was once again cut off by an earth spike this time, immediately dodging it as soon as it comes close.

"I said shut up!" She yelled, looking at the window where Yui supposedly is. _'Yui… I know you're there… you can do this…'_ She then turned her attention back to Nodoka. "I'll make sure you eat your words, Nodoka."

"Don't make me laugh, Kotobuki… but if you insist, I guess I'll slice you up first." Nodoka readied her scythe, the deadly glare staring right into Tsumugi's eyes. She wasn't kidding around anymore. "Let's see whether you'll survive…"

**0**

Yui was distraught. She had slumped to the floor, and hasn't made her decision yet. Yet she knew with every second she wasted, Akiyama was slipping right out of her hands. On one hand, she was at risk of losing to Akiyama. On the other, she was at risk of losing her best friends by pursuing Akiyama.

This was a no-win situation for her. But now wasn't a time to be indecisive.

And this being Yui, her friends were way more important. She got up from her slump and headed to the window where her friends would be. "Well… if Akiyama gets away… I can just catch up with her, I know it." She took one step out, but suddenly was dragged right back in. "W-WHOA!" She fell right on her back the moment she lost her footing, and when she looked up, she saw a shadowy figure take her place.

"And by that time, Akiyama's already got her plan in action." The figure said. "Now you'd better hurry and get there, or I'm gonna throw you out the window myself." The voice was all too familiar for Yui, who got up and brushed herself off. She nodded and turned around to head out the other window. "Oh, and Yui… thanks, for believing in me. Thanks to you, I broke out of my prison… so let me return the favor by busting up Nodoka for you. I've got to get even with her anyway. Don't worry, I'll save everyone."

"Thank you… Ritsu. And don't worry… I'll get Mio back for you… no, for us." Yui said before leaping out of the room through the window. Ritsu then looked out the window where Nodoka could be seen, leapt off and immediately attempted a dropkick on Nodoka from behind. With the momentum she took from the leap, she had enough to reach Nodoka and kick her down.

"What the!" Nodoka, realizing it too late, ended up getting kicked, falling and sliding on her back across the courtyard. When she looked at who hit her, she saw someone she didn't want to see at all. "Y-you! You're supposed to be frozen!"

"Yeah… so?" Ritsu scoffed, brushing her hair aside and slowly walking toward Nodoka. "But I can forgive Akiyama for that… spawning YOU into the woman that you are, however… that's something I will NOT forgive." When she had the chance, she fired off a straight flame shot at the scythe-wielder which forced Nodoka to roll backwards to dodge it.

"Gh… Annoying little runt! Prepare to die!" Nodoka raised her right hand into the air, summoning forth three smaller scythes that fly right towards Ritsu. But all the drummer did was just keeping her cool. The moment the scythes reached her, she whipped her left hand up, creating a wall of fire that knocked the scythes away. The wall was then brought down, and Ritsu was prepared for the following charge coming from Nodoka. "I HAVE YOU!"

Nodoka swung her scythe right at Ritsu, but the drummer quickly anticipated it, grabbing the upper-part of the scythe's handle before the blade could do any damage to her. It shocked Nodoka slightly, considering she didn't expect that Ritsu would be this good.

"Really, Nodoka… Yui had trouble with you? God…" On instinct, Ritsu grabbed Nodoka by the throat, wrapping her fingers around her neck and choking her. The sheer strength of Ritsu's hand was enough for her to know not to mess with the drummer. Nodoka struggled to get out of her grasp. As soon as Ritsu tried to burn Nodoka whilst in her grasp, the scythe-wielder kicked into her stomach, forcing Ritsu to groan and release her. She quickly followed it up with a straight punch, but Ritsu quickly caught it in her hand. "…heh, not bad for a shrimp, Nodoka. Sad part is I have to beat you into a pulp because you work for Akiyama…" She squeezed her hand in an attempt to break it.

"AAAH!"

"But I won't if you turn your back on Akiyama right now!" Ritsu shouted, glaring into Nodoka's eyes as she says it. She turned her head not to look at the drummer, trying to pull away. However, no matter how many times she tugged, she wasn't going to be released any time soon. So all she did was snicker at Ritsu. "…The Hell's so funny?"

"Hehehe… man, how long's it been since I've been this happy just by fighting? Well, I'll tell you one thing Ritsu… I'm gonna be MUCH happier once I send you into the abyss… and one more thing…" Almost instantly, she grabs Ritsu with her free hand and tosses her right over her head onto the ground.

"AGH!" She cried in pain, her back hitting the floor pretty hard. Nodoka quickly followed it up with an arm-bar, trying to snap Ritsu's arm out of its socket. "G-GH!"

"And don't think for one second that I'll just betray Akiyama, you filthy pig!" She kept tugging away at Ritsu's arm, forcing her to scream in pain. She had to find some way to get out of her grasp, but she felt more and more pain the more she resisted. Nodoka piled the pressure on Ritsu's arm, attempting to make her give up. The drummer wasn't about to, however, and she'd find any possible way to get out.

"Aaagh! Son of a… that does it!" In a bold attempt to break free, she had to pull away… and at the same time, breaking her own arm.

Intentionally.

Nodoka herself was shocked at what Ritsu did just to slip out of her grasp. Ritsu rolled out of the way, clutching her broken arm. "H-heh… small price to pay for not giving up… but I'll manage." With her other hand, she kept pressing at her broken arm with every ounce of strength, screaming at the amount of pain she had to endure, until she heard a rather resounding snap, a signal that meant her arm had snapped back into place. "AUGH! MAN! That felt good…" Her eyes then glared at Nodoka again. "Well, Nodoka… thanks for making this a BIT more interesting… Now, I'm gonna show you why you should never mess with me…"

"Bring it, Tainaka Ritsu… I swear I'll turn you into a bloody pulp just like I'll do to your friends after I'm done with you." Ritsu looked around, seeing her fallen friends. They've tried, but have failed to defeat Nodoka, and now it was up to her. If she couldn't beat her now, they'd ALL be dead.

"Man… I hate being the one left standing… but hey, if it means saving my friends… I'm all freakin' for it."

**0**

Akiyama Towers. The one place Yui hoped she wouldn't come back to. Alas, even if Akiyama would run, she'd run back to her home. "There's nowhere left to run, Akiyama… we finish this now." She kicked open the door to the towers and was greeted by a whole cluster of Shadows, all under Akiyama's control. She didn't waste any time in engaging them and quickly vanquished them one by one, starting with the bigger ones. She didn't have time for them, but she had to defeat them. Without using any of her electricity, she dispatched most if not all of them. She quickly headed up to the room she was in the first time she came here.

The first thing she noticed was emptiness. Usually, Akiyama would've waited for her on her throne, but there was no one there this time around. Instead, all she saw was the empty shell of the ice statue Ritsu was encased in. She knew the words that she gave Ritsu on the day she was frozen proved useful.

But now, something else had taken its place; A large blue portal. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if Yui stepped through, Akiyama would be on the other side, waiting for her. Yui took a few steps forward, going closer to the portal. As she almost steps in, she hears a voice.

'_Be careful, young one.'_ The voice called out to her, stopping Yui in her tracks.

"H-huh?" She looked around trying to locate the source of the voice, but no one was around.

'_Beyond the portal lies your destiny… once you step into it, there is no turning back. Are you prepared?'_ The voice said, warning Yui of the dangers that lie ahead.

"Of course… all my friends… they're counting on me to bring the real Mio home… as well as to rid the Hour completely. I'm prepared for anything now…" She answered. With no hesitation or doubt in her body, she stepped into the portal. What awaited her on the other side… was a harsh coldness no other human could withstand. "B-brr…" She folded her arms to try and warm herself up, but the coldness was too harsh to bear. She felt the aching chills all over her body. As she advanced, she was wondering why Akiyama would send her into this ice castle. Was it a way for Akiyama to vent her anger? Or was this just a labyrinth of everything that Akiyama stood for?

She marched forward, heading up the ice staircase slowly, the cold slowly subsiding or more so Yui gets accustomed to the cold. When she finally reached the top of the looming castle, lo and behold, there she was. Yui slowly approached her, battle fans at the ready.

"Heh… this world… it's beautiful, isn't it?" Akiyama spoke, her back turned toward Yui, looking out at the barren and empty space.

"Yeah… I'll admit, Akiyama… this world IS beautiful. But it'd be a whole lot better if the Dead Hour never existed. You know it as well as I do… it's killing us both." This made Akiyama look at Yui over her shoulder, a bit baffled by her statement.

"You… you think this Hour is killing… me?" Her words were mixed with snickering, as if she just heard a joke being told wrongly. She turned right around, continuing to refute her claims. "You must be the dumbest person in the world to think that this hour is killing me… LOOK AT ME, YUI! I'm enjoying every single minute of this world! And you're still cowering in fear!"

"Look around you, Akiyama! Look at what it's done to all of us! And I know, Akiyama… you're suffering too. It's driving you further and further into insanity the more you stay here… and you're taking it all out on Mio." It only served to make Akiyama go into a maniacal laugh. Yui only kept glaring at her, the Number II of the Numbers holding onto her battle fans that bit tighter.

"Stupid… You're just so horribly STUPID! Heh… I might be going insane… but I'm enjoying every little bit of this… and I'll enjoy it further when I'm standing over your corpse, Yui Hirasawa!" She takes her sword out and points it at Yui, signaling her intent to defeat her. "Now that I have you right where I want you, I'll end this once and for all. I'll take back what's rightfully hers from you, Yui… and then, I'll have fun playing with your dead body, Yui."

"You hurt my friends… and now you've gone insane with power. That does it!" Yui immediately went into her fighting stance. "I'm going to save Mio, and then I'll make you talk! PREPARE YOURSELF, AKIYAMA!"

Now, the stage was set. On one corner, Ritsu and Nodoka squared off in the school. The two have been enemies since Nodoka wailed on the drummer in prison, so it was more of a battle of vengeance for Ritsu. But on a more important front, Yui and Akiyama are finally squaring off, both with different intentions. One wanted to utterly destroy, and the other to save her friends. Yui knew she cannot lose this fight, or else there will be no hope.

The fight is on.

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	21. Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 21: Horseshoes and Hand Grenades**

The air was tense. The setting couldn't be any more perfect for either combatant. Tainaka Ritsu and Nodoka Manabe stood across each other, glaring at one another. Ritsu, in particular, had this pent-up rage that she was about to let go any time now. First off, Ritsu was locked in and beaten badly by Nodoka way back then, and now, Nodoka had hurt her friends, Jun, Tsumugi, Ui and Azusa. Ritsu clenched her fist hard, cracking her knuckles in the process. She had waited a VERY long time for this moment, and it came to her in such a fitting manner and circumstances.

"So… you enjoy every minute of this, Nodoka? Enjoy being Akiyama's little pawn every minute of your life? Enjoy hurting what you USED to be surrounded with, that being FRIENDS?" Ritsu shouted, trying to drive any insult she had into Nodoka's head, but all she did was scoff at her.

"And do you enjoy being a vagabond without a cause, Ritsu? If I just had the chance to kill you back then, I wouldn't hesitate. But of course, Akiyama wanted me to keep you 'fresh and alive' for HER to play with." Nodoka said.

"Heh, I'm reduced to Akiyama's plaything. That's so degrading, but hey, if it means getting the chance to burn your scrawny little bum, then by all means, Nodoka. Insult me more. You're going to get your just desserts right now." Ritsu said, the rage building up in her now.

"Like I'd waste my breath on scum like you, Ritsu." Nodoka stood firm, now with her scythe in hand. She got into her fighting stance and has left her glasses off, keeping her demon eyes the way they are. Ritsu just sighed, grabbing her Sais and spinning them around before assuming her battle stance as well.

"I'll tell you right now, Nodoka… I'm not gonna let a demon like you beat me. You've got the eyes all right. AND you've used your demonic powers to beat up everyone here… but that's where it all ends. Allow me to floor you right now!" With that statement, Ritsu immediately charged straight for Nodoka. The latter, however, used her range to her advantage and swiped at Ritsu with her scythe. Ritsu wasn't having any of it. She hopped over to the other side quick, making sure her scythe had fully passed and charged forward. She ignited her Sais and attempted to strike her. However, the demon in Nodoka wised up, immediately pulling her scythe back to block the blow with the blade of the scythe. The moment it clashed, the force was so strong that Ritsu's Sais emanated flames from the very impact of the clash. They continued to clash over and over again, Nodoka not letting Ritsu hit her at all. When the next clash came in, Nodoka shoved Ritsu right off of her to make some space for herself. The fire-wielder ended up skidding on the ground to the other side, showing her how strong Nodoka is right now.

"W-whoa! Damn, being a demon sure has its perks." Ritsu, however, had no time for idle talk as Nodoka had sent her mini-scythes after the drummer. Ritsu knocked the first two of them away and dodged the next two, but little did she know that she rolled right into Nodoka's path. She was alerted at the last minute, but ended up taking a straight punch right to her stomach, forcing her back a lot. "N-NGH!" She groaned, clutching the hurt part of her stomach. "O-ow…"

"Do you see now, Ritsu? The absolute difference of power between you and me?" Nodoka taunted, waving her hand of any backlash she felt punching the drummer. Ritsu, though feeling the pain coursing through her body, stood ready. Nodoka wasn't going to allow her to breathe, unfortunately. She immediately dashed right for Ritsu and continued her assault. Ritsu didn't have time to recover from her pain and just had to block anything that was coming for her with her Sais. With every clash she had to block from Nodoka, she was slowly growing weary. She took the opportunity to dodge a delayed slash from Nodoka, but it only served to slash her in her already-hurt leg. She winced at the pain, and when she tried to get away, Nodoka had stuck her foot right on her leg. "Where do you think you're going?"

"A-agh! D-damn it…!" She groaned, trying to break herself out of this. Nodoka had that sick smirk on her face once again, thinking of every little possible thing to torture her prey.

"I guess Akiyama really did a number on that leg of yours… I wonder if it's possible to break it any further." She said, dragging her scythe to signal her intent. Ritsu had to think up of any escape plan she had. But the screeching of metal dragged across the floor was hindering any thought she had at the moment. "Perhaps I'll chop this leg off right now." When the sound stopped, Ritsu knew she raised her scythe. It was her only opportunity, but it was worth it.

"Not on your life!" Ritsu quickly used her free leg to roll herself over and kick Nodoka in the stomach, causing her to fall back. She quickly kipped-up, ignoring the pain in her hurt leg and then dashed right for Nodoka again. It forced the scythe-wielder to go back on the defensive. This time, Ritsu's recklessness paid off, as she kept swinging for any opening she could find. Nodoka kept blocking, but she was being pushed further and further back, and with the slightest of openings, she managed to scratch Nodoka's face with her Sais. Nodoka leapt back the moment she felt it, feeling her face, and subsequently the blood flowing from the wound. She looked at the blood on her fingers after touching it, but she only grinned from ear to ear.

"Well… it's been awhile since someone had done this… making me look at my own blood… hehe… I'm so happy to have found a GOOD opponent now after all these years… Hell, Yui couldn't even cut it. I applaud you, Ritsu." She said, glaring back at the drummer. "You're actually WORTH fighting… but unfortunately for you…" She shut her eyes again, and when she reopened them, Ritsu could see that her eyes were VERY much different, or as different as it was before. "You're going to be nothing more than a freaking meat pile once I'm done with you!"

"That's…!" Before she could even speak, Nodoka had disappeared and then reappeared in front of her to give a swift knee to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Her speed had increased tenfold. As for power, the fact that Nodoka had sent Ritsu flying into the school wall with a straight punch to her face was any indication that it had increased tenfold as well. Ritsu smashed right into the wall, cracking it. She slid off of it and fell to her knees. Nodoka did not relent, unfortunately. With her speed, she was immediately all over Ritsu, pinning her right to the wall and dishing out blow after blow on her. Ritsu felt every blow like a wrecking ball kept smacking into her repeatedly. With every punch she took, it was breaking her further and further.

Nodoka immediately wound up one final punch and hit her right in the chest. The blow ended up causing Ritsu to break the wall and crash into the school, with her body bouncing off the shoe lockers, landing face first onto the floor.

"Hmph… is this all you can offer, Ritsu? If so, you disappoint me more than I already thought you could." She said. She then moved for the place where Ritsu landed. She couldn't see a thing in the dust, so she waited for it to settle. As soon as it did, her smirk quickly faded. Ritsu's body wasn't there. Only an outline of her done in ash was there. "Tch… annoying little cur…" As she examined the area, she noticed small red spot next to it, followed by a few more down the hallway. Ritsu's blood dripped all over the floor as she made her escape. This was just icing on the cake for Nodoka, as she followed the bloodstains. "Such a fool… it won't be long before you're dead, Ritsu."

**0**

Sure enough, the drummer continued trudging along the long, empty hallways. The word 'hurt' was an understatement right now. Her whole body was in pain more than anything else. The damage Nodoka did was more than substantial. She felt as if every bone in her body was broken, making the pain way more than she could take. She had to use the walls for leverage, pulling herself to get away from the wreckage as quickly as possible. To add on to the pain, she was bleeding from her head and her already-hurt leg had reopened its old wounds. "Gah… I definitely did not expect this…"

As if she didn't have enough to worry about, she heard a loud screeching noise, like as if nails were being dragged across a chalkboard. This time, Ritsu knew Nodoka was tailing her, and her scythe was being dragged across the floor. Ritsu had to hurry. If Nodoka had caught up to her now, she'd be dead before she knew it. She continued staggering along. Her only hope now was to be able to reach her classroom to regroup and come up with a plan.

Slowly but surely, she was getting there. The screeching, however, wasn't planning to stop. Ritsu kept going, or as fast as her body allowed her to go. She could hear the various chuckles echoing from the dead hallways, along with some taunts.

"There's nowhere to run, Tainaka Ritsu. You're going to die here, with ALL your friends!"

"That's what you think, idiot." She cursed under her breath. She finally made it to the classroom, shutting the door and barricading it with various tables. The pain, however, prevented her from exerting herself too much. She quickly got onto the teacher's table to come up with a plan. Dying wasn't an option for her. "All right… Nodoka's demon powers just got that bit more troublesome to deal with…" She ran through all the options she had, slowly healing herself with a heat source. She definitely wasn't going to face her head on lest she wanted to be buried under 6 feet of concrete. Any attempt to sneak up against her was out of the question as well, considering she can just blast through any trap that Ritsu would place.

Options dwindling, Ritsu was nearly about to lose any hope of defeating Nodoka… that is, until she looked at her reflection on the cracked window, immediately noting the hair band she's always wearing on her head. She touched it with both hands, but was contemplating on whether or not to take it off. "…what other choice do I have? But then… if I do use it… ugh…" Now, she was at an impasse with herself. The hair band served as a limiter for her fire powers. With it on, she was limited to summoning flames through her hands and she could ignite her Sais with them. With it off, however…

"No, no… there's gotta be a way to beat her." But before she could make a decision, the doors had blasted open. Nodoka was right there, her punch blowing the doors right off. "Shoot…"

"Found you…" Nodoka said, in a near creepy manner, staring at Ritsu with those demonic eyes. "I'm not stupid, Ritsu… I know you'd be here, licking your wounds. And you picked a fine place too… for you to die, that is."

"Sorry, Nodoka… but…" Once again, her hand crept up to her hair band. This time, without any hesitation, she yanked it right off. "I'm not planning on dying here." With Ritsu's hair band off, slowly, the drummer felt a surge of power flowing through her veins. "Oh yeah… how's THIS for a burning sensation?" She said, as her body slowly lit up. From head to toe, she herself was slowly igniting. And within a few seconds, her whole body lit up like a human torch. "Now you're gonna get a taste of RAGE, Nodoka!" She yelled, sending out a whole stream of flames her way, just about 5 to 10 times more powerful than it was originally. Nodoka took the full brunt of it and was blasted right through the wall, hitting another wall as she flew. Ritsu stepped out of the classroom, looking at the downed Nodoka as she slumped against the wall.

"A-agh… such… power… h-hehe… So… Rage Ritsu has appeared."

"Yeah, she has. And she's going to make a human barbeque out of a certain bespectacled little wimp." Ritsu insulted, grabbing her adversary by the throat. Just touching her was already burning her neck. Ritsu immediately threw Nodoka right threw the same wall she tossed Ritsu through earlier, sending her back out onto the courtyard. Ritsu slowly approached her, but Nodoka was having none of it, as she backed away from Ritsu. Unfortunately, she ended backing up to the feet of the 4 people she kicked about earlier.

"Oh, no…"

"I think that's enough from you." Tsumugi, the eldest of the 4, said. Being the master of the Earth element, she summoned vines. They wrapped themselves around Nodoka to keep her held tight. The demon tried to break free, but these vines were tougher than she thought. To make matters worse, Azusa's naginata was pointed right at her already bruised and damaged neck. The odds were already stacked against her, so it was more in her best interest to stop resisting.

"Well, you guys got out of your damn rut." Ritsu said, holding her hair band and placing it back at its rightful place, which led to Ritsu being back to her limited state again.

"And it took YOU long enough to finally do something about this one." Azusa said, almost trying to demean Ritsu.

"Shut it, Azusa. It only took me a whole bunch of beatings but hey, we stopped her. Speaking of…" The drummer went closer to Nodoka, and in her hands were a pair of glasses; Nodoka's glasses, to be exact. "Do me a favor and keep that demon form to yourself." The moment she slipped them on, Nodoka's demon eyes slowly turned back to normal, and in the process, since she had used too much of her power to face Ritsu, she quickly passed out, forcing the 4 to catch her before she fell to the floor. "Phew… that's one demon I don't need to deal with. You four better get her back to Yui's place. And make sure she DOESN'T escape." She ordered, glaring directly at Azusa as if she did something wrong.

"…Yeah, yeah, we'll make sure." Azusa said, taking hold of the unconscious Nodoka.

"Ritsu-senpai, you're headed to help my sister, right? Please… bring her home safe." Ui asked of the fire-bringer.

"Don't worry. If anything, I'm going there to smack the living Hell out of Akiyama."

"Then let me come with you, Ritsu." Tsumugi stepped forward. Usually, Ritsu was adamant on keeping her targets to herself, but this is more of making sure Yui's safe. As a fellow bandmate, Tsumugi wanted nothing more than her leader's safety.

"Hey, me too! I need to make sure Yui-senpai doesn't hurt either." Azusa did the same. Ritsu just shrugged.

"Eh, why not? If anything, we can provide any backup Yui might need. Come on! Let's get there before anything bad happens to her!" Ritsu said. Quickly, she turned and ran in the direction of Akiyama Towers with her friends in tow.

With one battle finally settled, it was time for Yui to finish her part… but at this rate, will she be able to?

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	22. Destiny Written In My Face

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 22: Destiny Written In My Face**

When she was focused in her studies, she did well, nearly acing it.

When she was focused in music, she could play her guitar with no problems whatsoever.

So it was no surprise that Yui Hirasawa's focus came into play, as she continued to parry, dodge and continue to clash with every single one of Akiyama's attacks. She wasn't about to let herself get hit, as it would only lead to a definite fatal end for her. This only frustrated Akiyama as she kept attacking Yui, aiming a downward slash right at her, but Yui once again blocked it with her battle fans.

"Tch! I knew Nodoka was wrong about you, that stupid useless girl!" Akiyama yelled, the frustration only building up from here as she pushed to win the deadlock. However, Yui was having none of it. Hearing the woman in front of her insulting her best friend, it wasn't about to go unpunished.

"And you're wrong about EVERYTHING!" With a resounding shove, she pushed Akiyama right off of her, breaking the deadlock. To add to that, she shot a lightning bolt from her hand right at her. Akiyama had no time to react to it and ended up getting hit, which sent her flying into the wall on the opposite side of the room. Yui wasn't going to let anything stop her now. She continued the assault, dashing right through and attempting to hit her while she was pinned to the wall. Akiyama deftly got out of the way, with Yui hitting the wall hard enough to crack it. This was Yui's rage at its full extent. Akiyama, cunning as she was, quickly managed to get out of the way in time, then pulling Yui away to attempt an assault of her own. She punched her hard, but Yui managed to block it, and out of sheer frustration, she swung her sword sideways. Yui backed away, but got nicked right on that same arm. She squinted a bit, but it wasn't much to write home about.

"Tch… just DIE ALREADY!" She shrieked, franticly dashing right for her adversary, swinging her katana madly at her. Yui backed off quickly, getting out of the way of the blade's range. When she got back in her comfort zone, she continued clashing with Akiyama's blade using her fans. Though back to square one, Yui wasn't going to lose at all. Her determination wouldn't let her. She held Akiyama in another deadlock, staring right into her eyes. She felt every bit of hatred coming from Akiyama, but she wasn't about to be intimidated. Akiyama, however, just let her actions do most of the talking, and that smirk wasn't about to leave its place. Both of them used all their strength to win the deadlock… apparently, TOO much, as they inadvertently sent each other's weapons flying into the distance. They just watched as their weapons landed close to each other. Yui turned her head to glare at Akiyama.

"Hehehehe… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Akiyama laughed maniacally. Yui only clenched her fist, preparing herself for anything. "Hehe… ooooooh when was the last time I've had so much fun like this, huh? Not even that idiot Nodoka can keep me entertained…" Before she could finish that sentence, she had blocked a straight punch from Yui, clearly stating that she should stop talking at this point. "Ooh… someone's pissed." She then pushed her right off. Yui almost fell on her back again, but managed to regain her composure to retain her fighting stance.

"Tch… you've gone completely mad, Akiyama." Yui said, wiping her mouth. "But I guess that's just you then. Here's what's going to happen. You release Mio, I walk out with her, and you can go back to wherever you came from."

"God, are you THIS STUPID!" Akiyama screamed. "There's no way in HELL I'm going to release her even if you ASK! But what I AM going to do is beat the living Hell out of you, get that guitar from you and giving it to Number I. And then… I get to play around with your dead body once I kill you."

"Like that's going to happen, Akiyama." Yui disagreed, getting into her battle stance.

"Oh it is, Yui. I'll make SURE of it!" Without wasting any more time, Akiyama dashed straight for her and launched her attack. The moment Akiyama got close to her she unleashed a whole flurry of punches and kicks. However, just like their armed standoffs, Yui dodged and weaved through them, launching her own counter-offensive and sending wave after wave of punches and kicks. Once again, it mostly ended in stalemate after stalemate as each combatant continued dodging each other's strikes. This lingered on for quite some time…

**0**

Meanwhile, Ritsu, Tsumugi and Azusa managed to reach Akiyama Towers, with the former dropping to her knees after the LONG run she had to take from the school.

"Oh dear GOD I am bent out of shape." Ritsu commented.

"Good, then maybe you might do something about that figure of yours." Azusa said insultingly.

"Shut it, Azusa. We're here to find Yui and help her any way we can-!" The first thing she sees, however, is that ice statue that she broke out of. She shuddered a bit at the mere sight of it. "Bad memories… bad memories…"

"Where are they? Where's the portal?" Tsumugi questioned, noticing the room was lacking that very portal that sent Yui and Akiyama to the ice castle.

"They must have hidden it somewhere. Search every nook and cranny of this place and we'll find it!" Ritsu commanded, nearly tearing the place apart trying to find any way to help Yui.

"Ritsu-senpai, I don't think just destroying everything in this place is gonna…" Azusa had to dodge a flying chair tossed at her. "…help." As usual, Ritsu was ignoring Azusa, Hell bent in finding any way to get to both Yui and Akiyama.

"Damn it, where IS it? I know it was right here!" Ritsu shouted in frustration, tearing the place apart. She tore up the machines, the furniture, anything she could get her hands on just to find the portal, or a switch that activates the portal.

Over half an hour later, Ritsu was exhausted. She couldn't find anything that could help her cause. She looked at all the damage she's caused and sure enough, the whole PLACE is trashed.

"Great redecoration job, Ritsu-senpai." Azusa said, obviously not complimenting her.

"Shut it, Azusa." The same retort she always gave came out.

"So… does this mean we hit a dead end?" Tsumugi asked, the concerned tone in her voice noted. She thought this was the end of the road for them.

"No way, absolutely not. I said we're gonna help Yui however we can, and by God I am getting there one way or another!" She continued to rip up the machinery, but by some luck, the portal returned to its rightful place in the center of the room. "Oh, hey, I got it back up!"

"Good for you, Ritsu-senpai."

"Actually… that's my doing." The three immediately recognized a 4th voice in the room and immediately turned to it. The moment they saw the person, all 3 of them got their weapons out.

"Nodoka! How the heck did you get out?" Ritsu yelled almost ready to pounce at her if she tried anything.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up there… I'm not here to fight." Nodoka said, adjusting her glasses. Her presence was enough to trigger the portal's activation "If I was here to fight, I wouldn't have announced my position to everyone now, would I?"

"…Tch." Ritsu scoffed, holstering her weapons by making it disappear in the light. "She's got a point. Stand down, guys." At her orders, reluctantly, Azusa and Tsumugi stood down, holstering their weapons as well. "You've got 30 seconds to tell me how you got here and what you're doing here before I give you a third hole for you to breathe through."

"Hmph, not wasting any time with those threats, huh?" She leapt down to the ground where the three were. "Listen… as much as you think I like working for Akiyama, I despise every bit of her actions. Plus, she treats me like crap anyway. From this point on, consider me on your side." However, all she felt next was the cold blade of Azusa's naginata resting right on her neck. Clear as day, the 2nd-year doesn't trust her one bit. "…Well, no surprise."

"How dare you ask us to trust you after ALL that you've done? Who the hell do you think you are?" She yelled at Nodoka, no longer restraining any urge to just murder her right now.

"Hey, Azusa, I said stand down!" Ritsu shouted.

"Shut up! Not after what she's done! You're not going to stop me from utterly destroying her right now!" Azusa pressed the naginata harder on Nodoka's neck, no longer restraining herself now.

"AZUSA, STOP IT!" Tsumugi, of all people, yelled at Azusa. "Your malice isn't going to help this situation… so please, stand down." Azusa, reluctant as she is, had no other choice. The last person she wanted to hear screaming at her was Tsumugi, so she stood down as told, scoffing.

"You'd better behave yourself, Nodoka." Azusa warned, not even bothering to show any respect to her as she walked off.

"Okay, Nodoka… first off, tell me how you got Ui and Jun to just let go of you, seeing as you're here NOT to kill us all." Ritsu asked, particularly curious about it.

"Simple… I told them I had a plan. Of course, they wouldn't believe me at first… but once I told them that I no longer wanted to work for Akiyama… well, I guess Ui could tell that I wasn't lying." Nodoka stopped for a breath before continuing. "So they let me go… Ui just made me promise to bring Yui home."

"Well… if Ui trusts you, then I say to heck with the suspicions." Ritsu said, relieved. "Now secondly, what's this plan of yours?"

"Simple… I'll pretend to help Akiyama and kick Yui about and then you, Ritsu, need to come in and help. If I know Akiyama, she'll probably knock you down too. That's what I'm counting on. Akiyama will probably be full of herself if she knows that she just beat down both you and Yui. So her bloodlust would probably distract her and all her attention will be directed to the both of you, more specifically, Yui… so here's my plan. While she's distracted, I'm going to use my baby here to split the two Mios away." Nodoka proposed. After hearing her out, Tsumugi, Azusa and Ritsu all gave it some thought.

"That… that doesn't sound too bad." Ritsu said.

"…You wanna trust Nodoka NOW of all times, Ritsu-senpai?" Once again, Azusa was skeptical. She wouldn't trust ANYTHING done by someone who's been walking in Akiyama's shadow, let alone Nodoka Manabe herself. "Besides, for all we know, this might be a trap. I know Nodoka's capable of those."

"Oh, please. Why would I bother to do that? I'm on your side now. Believe me."

"So let me get this straight…" Ritsu cut them off before it got ugly. "While I'm busy being a meat-shield for you and Akiyama, you're gonna go around and try to split Mio from her… that it?" Ritsu clarified.

"Yes, that's pretty much the gist of the plan." Nodoka confirmed, nodding her head.

"I'm all for it. Come on guys, let's go." Ritsu suddenly said which nearly shocked Azusa out of her life.

"W-whoa, whoa, hold it, Ritsu-senpai! You're just gonna go with a plan that this woman laid out? Geez…"

"Hey, if it involves me getting my hands on Akiyama, I'm all for it." Ritsu said, sticking her tongue out at Azusa.

"And here I thought MY malice would kill me… whatever." Azusa decided to follow with Tsumugi in tow, but all 4 of them felt yet another presence around, followed by a rumbling.

"Okay, what is that?" Ritsu noted, the rumbling soon getting that bit stronger every second. Duly noted, they WERE on the top floor of the Tower so the building shook for a bit. Soon, all 4 sides of the building were crawling with Shadows, ranging from the small ones right to the bigger ones.

"Oh, good. Friends of yours, Nodoka?"

"Sad to say, they are. And they're not happy with me anymore. We've got no time to fight these things. Ritsu, we have to move! NOW!" Nodoka commanded. Ritsu was almost primed to fight, but she knew her objective and her mission had to come first. She acknowledged by simply jumping right for the portal. All Azusa did was sigh as she watched her seniors jump into the portal headed straight for the Ice Castle. Well, all her seniors except for Tsumugi, who elected to stay behind.

"Brilliant. Stuck in a room full of brainless Shadows and they put us as the last line of defense." The 2nd-year said, arming herself with her naginata. "They'd better be quick."

"Well, Azusa-chan, I think it'd be in everyone's best interest if we didn't allow any of these Shadows to pass, okay?" Tsumugi replied, pumping her own fists to make her gloves appear and then assuming her fighting position.

"Right, right… it'd be bad for everyone in there now that the Shadows just went into rampant mode. Let's get rid of all of them." Azusa got into her fighting position and smirked. "It wouldn't have made any difference anyway, right?"

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	23. Bleed

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 23: Bleed**

This was definitely no time for errors and mistakes. Yui and Akiyama had been going at it and it seems neither will yield to the other. They both landed a couple of lucky hits on the other, but that was it. There was no real bruising to show for the amount of time they had been fighting. Along with that, there had been no real breakthroughs. Both of them were backed up, panting, huffing and puffing in need of some air.

Clearly, these two were way too evenly matched.

"T-tch… she won't… go down… what's going on!" Akiyama exclaimed, glaring at her opponent once more, obviously frustrated at the fact that this wasn't as easy as she thought it was.

"I need to… find better ways in dealing with her… at this rate my body's not going to hold up much longer against her attacks…" Yui assessed, looking at herself. She wasn't hurt, but she's expended too much energy while fighting. She knows that if she keeps this up she won't last much longer. Akiyama, however, had enough energy to be angry at herself for not getting the job done.

"Okay, now I KNOW you're not taking this fight seriously, you idiot!"

"If I wasn't then I'd have probably have just let you off to what you please, wouldn't I?" She yelled back.

"Well guess what? That's EXACTLY how it's gonna turn out, Yui!" Akiyama shouted. "You're going to LET ME do what I please!"

"Over my dead body, Akiyama…" Yui snapped back.

"Heh… that can be arranged, right after I pile your sister's dead body right on yours!" This might have just earned the Hooded One a glare from the guitarist.

"Excuse me?"

"That's right, Yui… when I had your sister in my hands… I just loved punching her so hard that she screams in agony." This only earned a blatant thunderbolt to Akiyama, which she easily dodged.

"Don't you dare bring my sister into this, Akiyama! I'm warning you!" But Akiyama just smirked, knowing that her underhanded tactics are working, so she continues to use them.

"Oho, did I hit a nerve? Maybe just like how I kept hitting Ui until the blood started trickling down her mouth? The screams were music to my ears." Yui was having none of it. Enraged by her words, Yui charged right at Akiyama… exactly how she had planned it.

Anticipating that she'd be affected by her words, Akiyama waited for Yui to get close. The moment she did, Akiyama nailed a swift knee right into Yui's gut, the very breakthrough she needed.

"A-AAGH!" Yui yelled in pain as she dropped on all fours. Akiyama pulled Yui up by her hair, immediately grabbing her head and smashing it into the icy wall, further increasing the pain.

"You're mine now, Yui…" She whispered into the guitarist's ear as she kneed her in the back hard.

"AAGH! U-ungh…" Akiyama turned her around, back facing the wall, and started doing what she did best; pummeling and torturing her adversary. Every punch and kick was filled with rage and vindictiveness. Akiyama really did want to hurt Yui and now she has her chance. Yui was defenseless. Her body didn't want to respond to what's happening. Her mouth started trickling blood due to the impact of every hit she was taking.

Akiyama punched Yui hard enough in her gut to force her back on her fours. Yui kept coughing up blood on the floor, and from the amount of blood she had been coughing, she had taken a major beating.

"How's it feel, Yui? How's it feel to be pathetic, huh!" Akiyama screamed out, kicking her in the stomach forcing Yui to roll in pain. The mad woman then took a few steps back, priming for something far more sinister. "Heh… I'll put your lights out for good, Yui… then I can do whatever I want to you!" She reeled her right leg back and started running straight toward her, aiming to connect with the side of her head. Yui was in no position to move. Her body had been worn out after that last beating and she can't move much.

All she could hope for now was to survive with whatever she has left in her tank, as Akiyama ran speeding toward her hoping to put her away.

Akiyama's plan, however, did not come to fruition, as Yui heard an all too familiar battle cry, followed by the sound of face meeting foot.

"DENIED BY TAINAKA RITSU!" Ritsu flew in and decked Akiyama in the face with a flying roundhouse of her own invention, sending the madwoman flying back and landing on the ground before skidding on her back for a good distance. Akiyama could only skid so far, but she stopped right at the feet of her own assistant.

"Need some help there, Akiyama?" Nodoka said as she pulled Akiyama up.

"Tch… you're LATE, Manabe. Where were you?"

"Got captured and then broke out. What's your excuse?" Next thing Nodoka felt was Akiyama's sword at her neck.

"Back sass me again, Nodoka, and I'll be more than happy to rip your vocal chords out of you." Akiyama threatened, which only made Nodoka snicker a bit.

"Ehehe… not in the mood for jokes, I see… Well then, Akiyama, stand back and allow me. You're hurt." Nodoka wielded her scythe, stepping in front of her own boss to confront Ritsu and Yui. "I'll see to it that they both die for causing you much strife."

On the other side, Ritsu was checking on Yui. She knew it wasn't looking good for her friend.

"God damn… you're hurt bad. What the heck happened to you?"

"I messed up… I let her get into my head… sorry, Ritsu…" Yui said, slowly getting up with Ritsu's aid.

"Yeah, well we ain't got time for this, Yui… We've got business to take care of." Ritsu said, pointing one of her Sais at Nodoka. "And that business is with you, Nodoka Manabe. You're just itching for further punishment, huh?"

"Sorry, Tainaka Ritsu, but it's you who will be punished." Nodoka snapped back, readying her scythe while looking back at Akiyama. "Don't fret, Akiyama. I'll make sure these two pay dearly. And I won't stop both of their blood spills on the ground tonight."

"Actually, Nodoka…" Akiyama responded, which made her associate turn to face her with a puzzled look on her face. "Your services are no longer required."

"W… what?" Her shocked face then turned into a face of fear, when suddenly she felt the cold steel of Akiyama's blade pierce right through her chest, through and through. Ritsu could only look in utter shock and fright when she saw what Akiyama did, but it was Yui who mostly got affected by this.

"NODOKA!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. All she could do was watch as her one and true best friend fell flat on her back, the blood slowly pouring out of her, staining the pure ice floor.

"Why you little piece of crap!" Ritsu, with no sense of restraint left in her, charged in on Akiyama. She couldn't believe that Akiyama had just done what she did and Ritsu was incensed at this point. She whipped out her Sais and started slashing away, which Akiyama parried quite easily.

Yui, with whatever strength she had left, trudged over to Nodoka, kneeling next to her and holding her best friend's head. "Nodoka! Nodoka, please, don't die on me…" Yui pleaded, trying to shake her up. Nodoka could only grab Yui's arm weakly, smirking in the process.

"Yui… you idiot… people… don't 'die' in this Hour… they just… get our Heart Pieces taken from us…"

"But… but that's your only way of existing in this world… right?" Yui said. The crackling in her voice was apparent enough to note that she's worried about her best friend.

"Yeah… you're right…" Nodoka looked Yui in the eyes. "Listen to me… Yui… people who… don't find their Heart Pieces in time… get Lost. So… if I become one of them…"

"No, you're not, Nodoka! I'm going to help you find your Heart Piece! I'm not losing you!" Nodoka tightened her grip on Yui's arm.

"I'm not going to make it, Yui… I don't even know where it's going… if I do become one of them… do me a favor… and put me out of my misery…" Yui's stunned look came as no surprise. Her own best friend had asked her to kill her if it ever happened. Yui was absolutely gutted by now. Nodoka looked at her own left hand and noticed that she's started fading. "Well… I guess my time is coming soon…"

"NODOKA, NO!" Yui continuously yelled out. "Don't disappear on me, Nodoka!"

"Yui… see you on the other side…" With her dying breath in this world, Nodoka slowly faded into nothingness. Yui's arms fell through her faded body as she tried to hug her. Nodoka was no longer there for her. The pain she felt in her heart was so severe that she almost looked dead to the world.

Ritsu, after just a few minutes of holding her own against Akiyama, was sent flying after one massive kick, landing right near the spot where Nodoka had disappeared. "G-gh! Suddenly I know how you feel, Yui." Ritsu said, but as she looked up to look at Yui, all she saw was a face of despair and emptiness. "Oy, Yui! Quit looking at me like that!" She tried to shake her out of her depression, but Yui was more than frozen in despair.

"Awww, did I break someone?" Akiyama, on the other side, was taunting her. "Don't worry. It'll be you next anyway. Besides, Nodoka was nothing more than a pawn for my plan. And I knew that one day that blithering idiot was going to stab me in the back. What, you think I was THAT stupid to fall for your stupid plan?"

"And you just go ahead and outright kill your own people? You heartless swine!" Ritsu yelled angrily.

"Eh, Nodoka was just pathetic anyway. Useless people like her should just die."

"Why you!" Ritsu was just about to get back up, but Yui slowly made her way up, her dead emotions still looming. "Yui…"

"She served you… she served you to no end… and you just get rid of her like she was a pet… how much more heartless can you be?" Yui said, in a crackled tone, her voice pounded by the emotions she felt earlier.

"Heh… maggots like her should just die in a fire… just like YOU!" Immediately, Akiyama had her sights set on a low-spirited Yui, aiming to finish her off.

"Y-Yui, look out!" Ritsu shouted, trying to warn her. Yui looked as though she wasn't about to move and she looked destined to be killed.

Not this time.

Almost as soon as Akiyama was close with her blade, almost about to stab her, just inches to doing so, Yui stopped her by grabbing the blade, regardless of being cut by it. "Don't you ever… call Nodoka… names." Without warning, Yui released an electrical surge through the metal blade, giving her a very major shock.

"GAAH! R-RELEASE ME!" Akiyama desperately tried to loosen her grip on the blade, but the amount of electricity being released into it was making it difficult for her to let go.

"Not until you let Mio go! And this time I'll make SURE OF IT!" Her downtrodden attitude now immediately turned into full rage thanks to her best friend's death and her enemy's derisive remarks, Yui mustered up all her strength into one massive punch with her right hand, aiming it straight for Akiyama's face. The Hooded One, with nowhere to go, had no other choice but to take the full brunt of the punch. It was so hard that it almost disoriented her face. The punch sent the mad woman flying off, but Ritsu could see a light leaving from Akiyama's body after that punch. The light rested on the floor, materializing itself soon after. Ritsu ran over to the light, and after fully materializing, it was a sight the fire-wielder definitely wanted to see.

"M… Mio?" Ritsu couldn't believe her own eyes. What that light materialized was her one and only best friend in the world. The REAL Akiyama Mio had returned to her. All she did was fall to her knees and hold Mio's head, tears almost escaping her eyes.

"U-ungh… R-Ritsu… is that you?" Mio opened her eyes, her vision blurred. No matter, though, as she could easily recognize the hairstyle of the person she's looking at. She rubbed her eyes to clear her vision. "Ritsu…" She whispered her name again, and she received a hug just for it by a worried Ritsu.

"Don't you… ever leave my side… ever again…" Ritsu whimpered, holding Mio close to her.

"Ritsu… I-I thought you said… you'd never cry…" Mio said, chuckling a bit.

"I-I'm not crying, I swear. You just had me worried that I lost you forever to that copy of you… speaking of which." Ritsu looked at Akiyama, who was struggling to get up and was forced to use the wall for leverage, breathing heavily. Yui's punch had taken more out of her than she thought.

"Gh… and this is all… I have to show for…" Akiyama said, as she found herself staring down the barrel of 3 guns, aptly named Yui Hirasawa, Tainaka Ritsu and the now-returning Akiyama Mio. Mio grabbed her sword and pulled it out of her sheath, signaling her intent to finish off her own copy.

"Payback, Akiyama. That's what I'm going to get from you now for everything that you've put me through." Mio pointed her blade at her copy. Akiyama could only muster her trademark smirk once more, even in the face of adversity.

"Oy, don't start the party without us!" The three noticed Azusa and Tsumugi had finally caught up with them, apparently finished with their business outside.

"So this is Akiyama, huh?" Tsumugi approached her, standing in line with her friends.

"Yeah. Too bad we're gonna waste her right here and now." Ritsu pointed one of her Sais at the copy. "You're gonna pay for what you did to me that day." All 5 of them were poised to finish her off, after all Akiyama had done to ruin their lives.

However, before they could do anything, they were interrupted by a slow applause… coming from behind them. "What the heck?" Mio and the rest turned around. What they saw next nearly stunned them all.

"What in the HECK am I supposed to do with you, Akiyama?" The person said, as she slowly walked down the steps from where she was.

"…You…"

"No way… No freaking way…" Ritsu said in utter disbelief.

"Believe it, Ritsu… you're now staring at the most dangerous amongst us all… Number I… Yamanaka Sawako."

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	24. The Kids Aren't Alright

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 24: The Kids Aren't Alright**

Amongst the 7 of them present in the room, she was the one who stood tallest as she made her way down from where she was standing. She had just interrupted the band's attempt at defeating Akiyama, the very woman who tormented them for a good long time.

"Congratulations, you beat Akiyama. I don't know whether I should applaud or sigh… applaud all your efforts in taking her down, or sigh at the failure about to be destroyed." Sawako said, just placing a hand on her forehead. The rest of the girls, however, could just glare at her. "What are you looking at me for?"

"Well, for starters… this little ingrate kept blabbering about Number I… and now it all makes sense. You want Yui's guitar to make yourself all powerful again!" Ritsu said, which only brought a chuckle out of Sawako.

"Oh, Tainaka Ritsu DOES have a brain after all. I think that deserves a round of applause on its own."

"Why you!" Ritsu charged at Sawako, attempting to slash her. The teacher, however, blocked her off by grabbing her using some sort of force, and immediately pushing her off into the wall. Immediately after that, Sawako fired a massive laser at Ritsu, who had no way to avoid it. "AAAGH!"

"Ritsu!" Mio shouted, but Sawako wasn't going to allow her to aid her friend, firing a laser in front of where she was going to run. "T-tch! Annoying…"

"Now what am I going to do with the lot of you? You're all just going to be a hindrance to my plans anyway." Sawako said as she glared at Yui mostly.

"And your plans involve me in some way, don't they, Sawako?" Yui responded.

"Well, I wouldn't say they involve you… well, they partially involve you, Yui. Believe me. It has you written all over it."

"You think we're going to just let you have her, Sawako?" Azusa, holding her naginata pointed at her. Tsumugi rightly followed, getting ready to fight.

"We won't allow you to do as you please, seeing as you're the one behind all this." Mio was about ready to fight at the drop of a hat.

"How cute… all 3 of you protecting her like that. Fine!" She started to levitate, two white orbs circling around her. "Let's see if the four of you have the resolve to defeat me."

"Trust me, Sawako." Tsumugi said, tightening her gloves. "We've got MORE than just that." Without any further warning, Tsumugi punched the ground, creating a huge wall of earth and sent it flying into her. Sawako had no time to react to that and just barely managed to destroy it.

The distraction was enough for Mio to jump up high into the air, soar through it and bring her sword down on Sawako. The teacher anticipated this and managed to block it with a shield of light, immediately shoving her off soon after. However, she didn't detect the super-quick Azusa, who managed to get behind her. She tried to strike her down, but despite not being able to detect her, she could sense the immediate danger behind her. Sawako pointed right at her and blew her away by shooting the ground, sending her flying into the wall. Yui and Tsumugi both attempted to attack her at the same time. Running at breakneck speeds, both of them came scurrying from opposite ends, reeling their fists back to strike her from both sides.

"You're not going to get me that easily. You're both too weak for me!" In a quick move, Sawako managed to get right behind them, pulling them back as hard as possible and sending them both crashing into the wall where Azusa crashed into.

"Aagh! Ugh… we can't even touch her at this rate." Tsumugi assessed, and after all they tried to do to take her down, she wasn't far off the mark.

"Look, you're all making this harder for me than I thought." Sawako said, placing a hand on her hip. "Here's how this goes. You give me Yui, I kill her, I get what I want, and you'll all… pretty much die after that. I'm happy and you'll all be dead."

Without warning, Sawako's face was immediately nicked by a water bullet, thanks to the ever present Mio. "We'll all be happy when YOU'RE dead, Sawako." Mio said, her hatred pretty much stamped further as she shot a whole salvo of water bullets at her, forcing her to dodge them.

"…So, Mio, I guess you're a brave little girl now. I'll be sure to add that to your gravestone!" Sawako yelled, prompting Mio to charge right for her and swing for the fences with her katana. Sawako used light shields to block her slashes, but Mio wouldn't let up at all. She created a water blade as a 2nd weapon and attempted an underhanded slash to throw her off. Sawako, not being able to see this, gets nicked in the face again. "Kh!" She groaned, backing off and firing off a laser at Mio to make sure she doesn't pursue her.

"Tch… I know now. You talked me into that stupid plan with false promises of cutting me a deal. Your plan backfired when Yui ended up the first to run, so you made me get Ritsu arrested. Then you make THAT thing and keep me in another realm!" Mio shouted, pointing at Akiyama. "But guess what? This is payback, Sawako!" Mio immediately went back to lashing out at her teacher, forcing her to be on the defensive. Sawako was slightly surprised by the fact that Mio showed no fear. However surprised she was, she was hardly impressed, as she blocked a wayward strike with her light shield before grabbing her by the hair and, with her strength, tossing her directly back first into the wall.

This prompted Tsumugi to run and catch her before she does hit the wall, which she manages to. "Gotcha!" She said as she caught her in her arms, setting her down on the floor.

"Thanks, Mugi… WATCH OUT!" Mio yelled. Sawako attempted to kill two birds with one stone by shooting a laser at both of them as she was priming for one.

"Oh no you don't!" As soon as Sawako let fly with that laser, Tsumugi jumped in front, spread her arms and yelled, "BARRIER!" In almost an instant, the keyboardist created a barrier large enough to cover both her and Mio. This only served as yet another obstacle for Sawako.

"Heh… nice. I wonder how long you'll be able to hold out though. Let's put that to the test!" She said. Following that, she launched a whole barrage of lasers. Tsumugi did her best to keep the barrier up long enough, struggling, but still hanging on.

"G-gh… y-you're not… beating me!" She kept her barrier up, but barely… with just enough time for Ritsu to intervene.

"GOTCHA, SAWAKO!" The drummer managed to shake off the effects of that last attack to get up and charge at her again, her Sais blazing. But her charge was… just as quickly stopped as Sawako quickly turned and kicked Ritsu hard into the wall next to Azusa. "AAH!" She only watched as her senior slid down the wall.

"Ritsu-senpai, I'm disappointed. You keep getting blown back so easily."

"Shut it, Azusa." Ritsu got right back up again to fire a huge flurry of fireballs. Sawako blocked it with her Light shield. The shots, however, were enough to distract her long enough for Yui to get up from behind her and punch the living the daylights out of her. The impact sent Sawako skidding across the ground. Yui wasn't about to rest on that and stayed in her fighting stance in case her teacher ever got up.

"H-hehehehe… that… hurt like Hell, Yui." To the band's horror, she got up in a zombie-like fashion. She's relatively hurt, but she's doing a great job of not showing it. "Still… I see you're getting stronger, the way you punched me." She then looked around the room to see that the rest of the band just about ready to pounce on her. All she did was just grin. "But you know what? Before we even begin, let's get rid of some collateral." Yui's eyes did not look away from Sawako.

"I'm not gonna move, Sawako. You want me, you come get me." Yui readied herself for what Sawako had in store. Sure enough, Sawako went straight for her, prompting the others to start their assault as well. Mio and Ritsu shot their ice needles and fireballs respectively at her, but Sawako was too fast for them. Tsumugi was up and punched an ice wall straight into her in an attempt to slow her down. That didn't matter as a less than sane Sawako bashed right through it, grabbing Tsumugi and smashing her right into the ground, really hard at that.

Azusa quickly took this opportunity to attack next, seeing as Sawako had her back turned to her. Azusa struck down hard on Sawako, but she managed to telegraph that by grabbing her naginata and flinging her right into the wall. She then turned her attention to the two people blasting her with attacks from afar. The moment they saw her charging towards them, Mio and Ritsu quickly got out of the way before Sawako could smash through their ice cover. Ritsu went up head-to-head with her, brandishing her Sais and was surprisingly nearly even with her. But even she knew that was a mistake when a single punch blew her back once more.

The only two left standing now were Yui and Mio. Sawako's eyes were looking straight at her main target, Yui, but Mio's approach diverted that attention to the water-user, who slashed mercilessly at her teacher. After all that's happened to her, it's no wonder she has this much pent up rage. However, Mio's anger turned out to be her downfall, as one missed slash allowed Sawako to capitalize, kicking her right in the stomach before grabbing her and tossing her face first into the ice wall.

Now, nothing could stop her from reaching her goal; the ever-present Yui Hirasawa. All she did was stand there, looking around at the carnage that was dealt to her friends. Sawako did the same thing, but only to be impressed at herself and to count the bodies.

"Yamanaka Sawako… 1, 2, 3, 4. Sawako 4, Team Hokagou Tea Time 0… but the crowd goes wild as she looks to go for the jugular, folks! All that's left is that meddling good-for-nothing guitarist, Yui Hirasawa!" She said, in a commentary-type voice. Though Yui knew Sawako was trying to make a mockery out of the team's demise, she wasn't about to be intimidated.

"You just love to make fun out of everything, don't you, Sawako?" Yui said, placing one hand on her hip.

"Yeah, just about anything I can, really, Yui. Kinda like that one time I made fun of Mio's figure when I tried to undress her and put her in a Santa costume." Sawako joked about. Yui wasn't going to have any of it though.

"You sick freak. Well, then again, this is you we're talking about, and you've been like that since your rock days." She went back into her battle stance, battle fans at the ready once again.

"Hmph… Rushing to your death, Yui?"

"No, Sawako. I'm just going to end it all right here and now!" Yui yelled out, getting ready to pounce. As she tried to charge at her, however, she felt as if she couldn't even move her feet. She looked down to find that her feet have been encased in ice! "What the…!"

"Do me a favor, Yui, and sit still while I beat the living crap out of her." Yui could only watch as the still-alive Akiyama walked right past her and toward Sawako.

"Oh, I almost forgot about you, you pathetic ingrate." Sawako just glared her former protégé down, and all she did was grab her blade and point it at Sawako.

"I am going to beat you so lifeless you'd be begging for God himself to take you away." Both Sawako and Akiyama were at the ready.

The fight was on.

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	25. The Beast and the Harlot

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 25: The Beast and the Harlot**

Yui couldn't do anything at all. As much as she tried, physically, she wasn't getting out. The only way was to use her own electricity and blast it, but it'd be too dangerous, as the ice could propel back into her face and hurt her. But that wasn't of importance right now. What took precedence in front of her was the fact that her former enemy was on her side and was about to go head-to-head with her more-than-insane teacher. And all she could do was watch.

"I wonder how many ways I have to maim you, Akiyama." Sawako said, floating in the air and just about ready to pounce.

"Just about as much as you can with that small brain capacity of yours, Sawako." Akiyama retorted, also getting ready for a fight. Waves of tension flew out like a tsunami and Yui felt every stream of it flow through her very frame.

"Hmph. Smart mouth. Of course, I created you, so there was that little side effect. Nonetheless, since you've decided to stand in my way, I guess obliterating my own toys would be part of my job now." Sawako said, then peering at Yui. "Don't worry, honey, our little date isn't over yet." Yui, ignoring whatever gestures Sawako had for her, turned to Akiyama.

"What do you think you're DOING, Akiyama? This is MY fight. I thought you were on HER side!"

"There's your key word, Yui. 'Were'." Akiyama said, turning her head towards Yui to look at her. "I can't accept what she's done. Not to me, and definitely not to Mio. And now that I'm no longer affiliated with this witch, I get to wipe the floor with her face." Sawako only chuckled at the statement, her arrogance showing completely.

"Then why did you do THIS to me?" Yui pointed at her iced feet. "If we fought together then—"

"You're not going to deny me the satisfaction of lopping her head clean of her shoulders, are you?" Akiyama asked, her eyes glaring at her sternly telling her to back off. Yui could feel it and stood down. "Now I could argue with you constantly but—"

"LOOK OUT!" Yui shouted, pushing Akiyama away from an oncoming beam. In the process, Yui's hand was slightly charred by it. She just blew at her hand and shook off the burn.

"Damn, I missed you." Sawako said, smirking as she blew off her smoking finger.

"Hmph. Trust you to go for a cheap shot, Sawako." Akiyama said, shrugging off that 'surprise' to lunge right for her. She laid out a flurry of slashes, ending it in one powerful upper-slash. Sawako parried most of the slashes but was still knocked back by the slash, though managing to guard it. She launched a counter-offensive, firing a few pinpoint lasers. Though Akiyama managed to dodge them, she wasn't quite prepared to meet Sawako's foot in her face. She took the hit full on and was sent crashing to the ground. Sawako needed to finish this quickly, so she attempted to mount her. That, however, backfired as Akiyama quickly lifted her legs up and caught her head, flipping her over quickly.

The fight continued, both combatants trading blows with each other, one not letting up to the other.

And of course, Yui was left on the sidelines, attempting to get herself out of her predicament. She continued to tug and tug at her feet, but all she felt was more and more pain. She really didn't have much choice. She had to blast the ice and suffer a bit of facial damage, but it's a sacrifice she was willing to make. As she prepared to be set free, however, she wound up being the center of attention, almost literally at that, as the fight was taken to her. Akiyama knew she wouldn't want to let Sawako hurt Yui, but that was Sawako's very intention. She knew that at one point, Sawako was going to gun for Yui.

That was the very case, as Yui ended up being nothing more than a rag doll for this part of the fight. Sawako aimed a laser straight for Yui, but Akiyama managed to rush over and knock Yui down on her back. "W-WHOA!" She cried out, her back landing HARD on the ice, forcing her to yell in pain when she felt it. Akiyama took an effort to try and bring her back up, albeit rather strongly, as she slid her foot under Yui and forced her back up… only for Yui to fall on her hands again due to the momentum. With Sawako lurking, however, Yui quickly got back up, lo and behold, seeing her teacher and her menacing smirk right in front of her, winding up a punch just for Yui. Once again, Akiyama managed to rescue her, stopping the punch which left Sawako open to any attack. Yui seized the opportunity and shoved Sawako away from her. This gave Akiyama enough time to hop over Yui and hit Sawako hard with a punch of her own, sending her crashing to the icy floor and sliding down. Akiyama quickly turned and made the ice around Yui dissipate.

"You want in, Yui? You're gonna have to work for it!" Akiyama said, dashing straight for Sawako.

"Don't you leave me behind, Akiyama!" Sawako had managed to recover by this time, but now she faces two potent threats, both of them charging right at her. Akiyama and Yui both coordinated their attacks to make sure she doesn't even have a chance to attack. The plan worked, as Sawako had to fend them off with her light shields. Akiyama managed to find an opening in her defenses and kicked Sawako a good ways away, sending her sliding.

"G-gh! Filthy little scumbags… do you REALLY think that will hurt me?" Sawako shouted at them both before unleashing a whole salvo of lasers at them both. Akiyama and Yui quickly scrambled behind cover, separated for the time being. Yui looked at Akiyama for any signal. She detected a nod from her, a signal which had 'Cover me!' written all over it. Yui returned fire with her own barrage of lightning bolts headed straight for Sawako. The teacher took notice and fired back, prompting Yui to duck and cover. Those lasers would kill her if they found their target. She was all the more worried for Akiyama, but she had to stick to whatever plan she cooked up at that point. All she had to do was cover for her, which she did a pretty good job of doing, using a wide variety of lightning shots to keep Sawako at bay.

It only took another split second for Akiyama to quickly flank her and kick her right in the face, sending her crashing back down again. Yui got out of cover to rejoin Akiyama.

"Give it up, Sawako. You come with us quietly and we won't even have to do this anymore." Akiyama offered. Hearing this, Sawako only laughed at the sheer audacity of that offer, hysterically laughing as she got back up almost instantaneously.

"Are you freaking JOKING! We've only just started, and you want me to give up so easily! Oho, the fun has ONLY just started, you two. And trust me… not one of you are going to survive this." Sawako took her glasses off. Akiyama immediately knew this was a bad sign of things to come, as both she and Yui noticed her eyes change severely. She almost became the pure epitome of evil right there and then.

"Wait… isn't that…?" Yui had a particular flashback. Nodoka did the same thing before she was brutally murdered by the girl standing right next to her.

"Ah, I see that look in your eyes, Yui. Yes, these are the same eyes you peered into when you took on Nodoka Manabe, but unfortunately, her power is nothing compared to what I can do." She abruptly tossed the glasses a sight, and with a furious battle cry, she charged up immensely, giving her a massive boost in power. Without any hesitation, Sawako charged right at them both at a increasingly fast pace.

Fearing the worst, Akiyama quickly shoved Yui out of harm's way before she took a fierce knee right to her gut. Akiyama found herself down on all fours, the strike taking more out of her than she thought thanks to the power boost. Sawako continued her assault, picking Akiyama up by her hair before crashing her face back into the cold floor again, adding on a harsh kick to the back of her head just to keep her there.

"You stupid little ingrate. I should've killed you for being a worthless pile of nothing to me. HOWEVER, I should thank you for all that you've done… and as for your parting gift? Complete, total annihilation!" Sawako took her foot off the back of Akiyama's head before pulling her up once more. This time, her palm was right on Akiyama's chest, straight to where her heart is. Her hand started glowing, she was aiming to finish the job and be rid of another pest.

All until she felt a thunderbolt whizz past her and nick her on the cheek.

"Let. Her. Go." Yui said; emphasizing every word in anger, her fingers still fizzled with electricity. Although this only served to amuse Sawako, even she knew that Yui meant business. "Your target is me, not her. You've hurt enough people here. You wanted me? You GOT me. Now let go of her."

Sawako looked at her and only beamed at the mere thought of finally being able to have Yui all to herself. She let go of Akiyama, or rather, kicked her right back down to the floor, and slowly walked over to Yui. Each step she took was ever menacing, but Yui wasn't about to run, even after facing down people like Ritsu, Nodoka or Akiyama at this point.

"I only have one question to ask you, Yui Hirasawa…" She said as she walked up to her, cupping her chin the moment she gets close. "What makes you think that you of all people can defeat me… even as I stand before you right now? A complete and utter shell of the woman I was? What makes you THINK that you can defeat me!" Yui, right in front of her own enemy, mustered up a smirk of her own.

"I don't THINK I can defeat you, Sawako." Yui looked straight into Sawako's eyes, confident as ever. "I KNOW I can."

The worlds Yui spoke nearly rocked Sawako as she was taken aback by them. As such, she backed away and turned right around… only to hunch over and break out into another maniacal laugh a few seconds later.

"THAT'S THE WAY, YUI! That's what I wanted to hear from the person I single-handedly picked to hold that guitar! Those are the words I wanted to hear coming out of your mouth, Yui!" She went back into her fighting stance, Yui doing the same. "And that's exactly the kind of stuff that you should back those words up with. Now defeat me, or I will KILL YOU!" Sawako immediately lunged after her former student.

The final battle was finally upon us.

**0**

**To Be Continued**

**0**


	26. Blackout

**K-On! - Shattered Dreams  
By MidniteBleuCrusader  
**Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?  
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?  
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-  
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)  
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit  
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit  
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)  
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

**Chapter 26: Blackout**

Ritsu, given the damage that she had taken, was forced to crawl across the cold floor to try and at least get to one of her band mates. Of course, she found Azusa first. As much as she and Azusa couldn't co-exist, she helped Azusa up.

"You all right, Azusa?" The 2nd guitarist only gave her a glare. "…Sorry, reflex question."

"Well, if you mean battered, bruised and utterly abused, then yes, I'm totally okay." Azusa replied sarcastically, only to garner an annoyed look from Ritsu as she helped the 2nd guitarist up. Mio on the other hand helped out Tsumugi, who took a battering in Sawako's hands.

"You guys both okay?" Mio asked. "Look, we really need to get out of here."

"What about Yui? We can't just leave her here." Just as Azusa mentioned that, Yui was holding her own against Sawako, even if she took a nasty punch to the face that sent her sliding down the icy walkway. However, she managed not to stumble and fall. She looked back at her friends who were trying to make a break for it, and all so for the better. Yui didn't want them to be caught up in her battle anymore.

"I'll be FINE! Just get yourself out of here and regroup at home! I'll deal with this menace." Yui ran right back into the thick of the action.

"You heard the lady. Let's scoot on out of here right quick!" Ritsu said at the rest of the team, holding on to Azusa as they try to exit from the premises. However, Mio looked back, and she saw the body of the downed Akiyama.

"…Ritsu, hold on to Mugi for me and get yourself out of here." Mio said, passing the keyboardist over and immediately running back to pull Akiyama out of harm's way. When she did, the hooded one came to, looking a bit dazed after the beating she took.

"U-ungh… my head… gh… I really hate it when this happens." Akiyama then looked up, seeing Mio trying to help her. "What… are you still doing here? Get out of here… and leave me here to die."

"Not gonna happen, Akiyama. As much as I dislike you, death isn't an option for anyone." Mio said, helping her clone up and wrapping her arm around her shoulder. Akiyama, however, was still puzzled by Mio's actions.

"…Why? Why would you do this for someone like me… the one person who treated you like total crap and almost killed you…?"

"Listen up, Akiyama." Mio said, assertively at that. "Don't you dare ask for your own death ever again, or I'm going to beat the living crap out of you. If you want to die, then die of old age. Ever thought of that?" Akiyama couldn't bring herself to argue back. She wasn't in a state to do so anyway. All she did was sigh at Mio.

"I guess you won't let me go that easily, clone of mine." That, however, earned a sharp elbow to her hip. "Ow!"

"Call me by name. No more of that 'clone' crap, Akiyama." She said, continuing to haul Akiyama away from the fight.

**0**

This left the two combatants, the highly volatile and insane Yamanaka Sawako, and the young and heroic Yui Hirasawa, facing each other. Both of them fired of salvos of ranged attacks, and when they got close, they tried to at least lay a scratch on each other. However, both of them weren't willing to let the other hit them, and as such there were countless stalemates. At the end of it all, both of them stood across each other, both of them sweating and panting hard. Yui's fatigue was more noteworthy, as she had to face down Akiyama earlier, thus she began to grow a tad bit wearier than Sawako.

At this stage, however, Yui wasn't about to give up. She wouldn't allow herself to give up.

"Resilient little girl, aren't you, Yui?" Sawako taunted, getting ready to attack once more.

"What's it going to take to keep you down, Sawako?" Yui responded, charging in once again, firing off lightning bolts as a distraction. Sawako once again blocked them, but even in her weary state, Yui still had her speed to use, as she successfully managed to get up in her face and slash right at her with her battle fans. Sawako tried to dodge it, but got nicked right on her cheek. This time, Sawako wasn't having any of it. Instead of letting Yui retreat, she caught Yui by her neck and immediately slammed her right into the ground, choking her once she's got her pinned with one hand. Yui tried to break free, but Sawako kept raining punches on her body and face to debilitate her.

"I've got you… right where I want you, Yui!" Sawako screamed as she kept squeezing Yui's neck. She tried and tried to get her hand off of her neck, but she was too strong, and with Yui's condition in mind, she wasn't able to fight back. "Why do you think I gave you that guitar, huh? You think I gave it to you for fun, huh? No! I gave it to you to see what you can do with it. Well, you're still ALIVE, for one, but that's gonna change once I'm done with you!" She kept squeezing the throat of the young guitarist, making her suffocate.

Yui started to fight back. She raised her hand and blasted a thunderbolt right at Sawako's face. Though she dodged it, Yui managed to squirm away from Sawako's hold to breathe again. She was vulnerable, so instead of waiting, Yui did a well-timed shining wizard kick—she hopped off Sawako's leg and used it as a platform to kick her right in her face—and sent her flying into the wall hard. Yui didn't want to let Sawako recover, so she quickly ran over to her and picked her up by her collar, pinning her against the wall.

"I don't care what it takes, Sawako! You're gonna stop this foolishness right now! I want you TO END THIS!" Yui screamed right into her face, but Sawako just gave off her own trademark smirk. This angered the guitarist, who let go of her, took a step back and heel kicked her own teacher right into the icy wall, cracking it and possibly cracking Sawako's skull in. She backed off, seeing her body fall down flat onto the floor.

Yui could only breathe a sigh of relief. This was over for her, so she quickly turned on her heel and made her way back to where her friends were. However… as she was making her leave, she saw a beam of light shine past her.

It only couldn't bode well for Yui.

**0**

The band members who managed to escape slowly made their way out of the ice castle, heading straight back to the portal. Ritsu was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mio, as Azusa continued to help the hurt Tsumugi down the icy steps.

All of a sudden, they felt the entire castle shake, as if a huge explosion had just occurred right near them. Luckily for them, the tremor wasn't that huge, and the castle wasn't about to cave in on them, so they were safe for now.

"Gh… that explosion almost shook up the place." Ritsu said, looking up the steps to see if Mio was coming down or not. "MIO! HEY, MIO!" She called out. "Darn it, what's taking her so long?"

"Geez, if you're so worried about Mio-senpai, go run up to her and find her, lazy bum." Azusa chastised, a bit annoyed at Ritsu's constant shouting.

"Shut it, Azusa." Ritsu said, scoffing at her junior. She looked up to see whether Mio was coming down soon. Lo and behold, her best friend had come down the stairs, albeit slower than usual. But not only did she see Mio, she happened to see the injured Akiyama being helped by her, and she wasn't happy with it. "Oh no she didn't…" She ran up to confront her. "Mio! What is the meaning of this?"

"She was hurt. I had to help her out. No way is she getting killed on my watch." Mio said, but it wasn't like Ritsu's going to like her reasoning.

"She's the one person who's been trying to kill us every day, and here you are saving her life! She's the one who trapped you and used your body! And you're letting her LIVE!"

"In case you've forgotten already, Ritsu, she wound up helping Yui in her fight. She may have almost DIED trying to fight Sawako, but she's on OUR side now." Ritsu just fumed, not believing that these words were coming out of her best friend's mouth.

"You know what? I think she's better off DEAD in the first place!" Mio was having none of that. With her free hand, she slapped Ritsu right across her face, forcing the drummer to stagger back and clutch her face. It didn't take long for Ritsu to strike back, however, as she tried to lay a punch right back to Mio. However, instead of fist connecting with face, she was stopped by Akiyama, her hand blocking her fist.

"You… touch Mio… you die…" Akiyama warned the drummer. Even in her weakened state, she tried her best to look as menacing as she normally would. Ritsu just gritted her teeth, the utter disbelief clear as day in her expression. She pulled her fist back and sneered.

"I didn't ask for this…"

"Come on, guys!" Azusa yelled, urging them to get a move on. "You all can argue later, this is NOT how we use the time Yui-senpai's buying for us!" As reluctant as she was, Ritsu just about-faced and walked on, Mio and the injured Akiyama following behind her. The bassist looked behind her for a second, a concerned look drawn on her face.

"Yui… come home safe…"

**0**

She thought it'd be over if Sawako stayed down. She thought she'd beaten her and she thought she could leave.

If there was any time for Yui to be wrong, this would have been the worst time for it.

Instead, she was blindsided by a mega laser that caused the explosion and made a gaping hole in the ice wall of the castle. She thought she was dead, but by some miracle, her body said no to death and she wouldn't allow herself to give up.

But, as if to crush her resolve, the real Yamanaka Sawako had shown herself. She was glowing in a bright yellow aura and she had shown how immensely powerful she has become. She grabbed Yui by her neck and lifted her up into the air, squeezing at her throat and trying to crush her very spirit.

"Did you REALLY think it was that easy, Yui? You think it'd be all fine and dandy to just knock me out? Well, don't get your hopes up, you little prick." Sawako said, this time not even fooling around like she usually has. This time she had every intent of crushing Yui's neck. The guitarist tried to struggle out of it, but to no avail. The grip was way too strong for her to just simply squirm out of. Before Yui could do anything, though, Sawako immediately smashed her right down onto the floor, harshly at that, and went back to choking her with her foot, causing her to scream out. "Music to my damn ears."

"G-gh… w-what… are you going to accomplish by killing me…? A-all you'll get is that guitar…!" Sawako just went back into a fit of laughter, letting her foot off Yui's neck. At this point, she doesn't even have any strength left to move.

"Is that it? Is that all that your puny little head can think of? You think I'm doing this just for one measly guitar, Yui?" Sawako screamed. Yui did her best to even support herself with her arms. "You don't have a 'bigger picture' sense, do you, you little prick? Sheesh, I thought you had a bigger brain than that. I guess not."

"W-what… do you mean by 'bigger picture'?" Yui asked, trying to recover slowly.

"What do you think I mean, ingrate? What do you think happens if I, Yamanaka Sawako, ruled this world alone… then, in a single moment the Dead Hour will be a new world to live in? No more Yamanaka Sawako the high school teacher. No more crappy students, no more minimum wage job, no more of this crappy world. Just a whole brand new world and I will call the shots. I'm making this world RIGHT again, Yui! Can't you see that?" Sawako said. Her hands rose up. "I… could be the Goddess of this whole world."

"DREAM ON!" Yui screamed, finally able to make it back to her feet, though staggering a bit. Sawako turned around to face her. "You, a goddess? Don't make me laugh! It's not going to happen, not while I'm around!" She got her battle fans out once more and went back into battle position, despite all the pain she's had to take, she was ready for one more shot at Sawako.

"Hmph. That's the problem. You're still around, which makes my job THAT bit difficult. Don't worry, I'll be sure to properly eliminate you and THEN I'll be the new goddess of this world. Deal?" Sawako said, preparing herself as she levitates above the ground.

"…No deal." Yui instantly leapt off the ground and made a mad dash straight for Sawako. Injury or no, her absolute goal was not to let Sawako win. She fired thunderbolt upon thunderbolt in sheer anger. Sawako dodged quickly trying to find a way past them all. Yui had other plans for her, though. Once she landed, she quickly swung around and used her battle fans to strike, constantly keeping Sawako on the back foot and not letting her attack, knowing full well she'd be done for if she allowed her enemy to attack. Yui used all the quickness her body could allow to dodge any attack Sawako had for her, and with that same quickness she unleashed a heavy kick to Sawako's gut to send her flying back.

To follow it up, she pulled a page out of Sawako's book and continuously hammered away with lightning attacks, attempting to zap her to eternity. Every zap, every crackle from every lightning bolt she summoned was all her emotions starting to compound. As soon as she let off one last giant lightning bolt, she backed away a few steps, letting the smoke that generated pass through, and there was a whole blanket of it.

As far as she knew now, Sawako would be quite unpredictable. Even after that entire string of attacks, Sawako wasn't one to go down to that.

Once again, she was right.

Suddenly, Sawako came at full speed and charged through the smoke, her sights set on Yui as she aimed a punch at her. The guitarist, however, managed to anticipate it and block her strike, but it was powerful enough to break her guard, causing Yui to stagger. That one second of stagger was all Sawako needed to quickly get another punch in on her, this time it nails her clean on the cheek causing her to lose her balance, but not enough to make her fall to the floor, only wobbling to the side. The punches flew in, each nailing Yui over and over again until she was up against an ice wall. Sawako kept nailing her again and again, each punch weakening Yui more and more. She reeled her fist back and blew a huge punch to Yui's gut, shattering the ice wall behind her and making a massive crack on it. Yui fell down to her knees, but before her face hit the floor, Sawako cupped her chin, forcing her to look up at her.

"I told you… you're no match for me." She whispered into her ear, before outright kneeing her hard in the face and shoving it right into the floor again. As a further exclamation point, Sawako launched an axe kick and kicked her right into the ice floor, the force of it strong enough to crack it.

Yui couldn't move at all. The attack almost made her unconscious, but she still managed to move her left hand. She was weakened greatly, however, and was unable to find the strength to get back up after that.

A perfect opportunity for Sawako. She didn't want to delay any further. She wanted to be rid of her once and for all. Sawako picked her up by the hair, supporting her head with her left arm. Her right hand started to glow. It could only have meant bad things for Yui.

"Time for you to say good night, Yui… I'm begging you to say your last words." She taunted.

"N-ngh… go to Hell… Sawako…" Yui said weak as ever. The backlash she got was a massive energy rush through her body, making her scream in pain and agony.

"Just for that, you can say goodbye to this world AND to your life, because I'm going to take what's rightfully mine…" Without any hesitation, Sawako reeled her right hand back, aiming to plunge it straight into Yui's stomach. The guitarist was too weak now. Death was almost inevitable.

As soon as Sawako plunged into Yui's stomach… everything went black for Yui.

**0**

Back downstairs, Mio felt a disturbance… as if something horrible had happened.

"Yui…!" She looked behind her, back at the tall ice castle. They were just about to head into the portal when all of them felt that same feeling.

"Something bad must have happened… I'm going back in and saving Yui-senpai!" Azusa said, turning on her heel and trying to run back into the castle, only to be grabbed by the shirt by Akiyama.

"And what will that accomplish, Azusa? You're only making yourself open and vulnerable to Sawako if you go back up there."

"And what do you suggest I do, Akiyama!" Azusa shouted at her, aggravated.

"We wait. This is Yui we're talking about… she won't die from something like this." Akiyama said, with assurance in her tone.

"What makes you so sure about that? What happens if she doesn't even make it out of there?" Ritsu questioned, ticked off.

"You doubt your own leader, Ritsu?"

"Hasn't stopped since I re-joined her." Ritsu replied, which vexed Akiyama. Tsumugi wasn't having any of their attitudes though.

"Will you two drop the death talk?" She said, intervening between the two. "I trust Yui, and I agree with Akiyama. Yui's not going to die to Sawako… even though I had that feeling. But there's no way Yui will let herself die like that, understood?" She glared right into Ritsu's eyes when she said that. Tsumugi wasn't going to hear Ritsu talk about Yui the way she did, especially since the two were so close.

"All right, all right, sheesh. Let's just get out of here." Ritsu said, trying to get rid of the tension. She then looked back at the ice castle. "Yui, you better be home tonight."

**0**

Darkness.

That was all she could see. Her eyes shut, her body floating back first. All she could hear was static, soon followed by a familiar tune echoing in her head.

'_Sing us a song of the century… that's louder than bombs and eternity… The era of static and contraband… leading us into the Promised Land… Tell us a story that's by candlelight… waging a war and losing the fight…'_

"_W-where… where am I… I-I can't see… it's so dark… and this song… such a saddening tune… am I… dead?"_ Yui thought to herself. However, she wasn't allowed to move, no matter how much she tried to force herself to move.

'_They're singing a song of the century… panic and promise and prosperity… tell me a story into that good night… sing us a song… for me.'_

The song ended in static. Yui opened her eyes suddenly, able to move once the song ended. Slowly, she was let on her own two feet, free from floating in the air. She looked all around her, and the only bit of light she saw was the spotlight on her. She could tell she fell a long way from where she was earlier, but it didn't feel like she was on Earth.

"Is this… Heaven?" She asked herself, continuously looking around. She shook her head and replied to herself. "No… it can't be. Heaven wouldn't be THIS dark. Still…" She looked up again to see the bright light above her. "I think I'm dead. Sawako… is going to get her wish." She slowly sat down, knowing she's lost all hope now. In her mind, Yui knew she wasn't going to be able to get out of wherever she was. At this point she knew Sawako was going to get her guitar and rule the Dead Hour.

All she could do now was just sit there and accept defeat…

However, before she let that stark reality sink in, her hand suddenly shot up in front of her. She had no control over it, but she knew she was pointing at something. She stood up and followed where she herself was pointing. Every step she walked forward into the darkness, a path of light was being made at the same time. Yui then started speaking to herself.

"Okay… what did Azu-nyan tell me last time during training? If you veer too far into the darkness, go back into the light. Do not venture too long into the darkness or else you will be devoured…" She looked behind her, noticing that she was making a path for herself. "…Convenient." She commented before moving forward. The song started to replay by itself, though.

She kept walking for a few minutes until she noticed her hand move 45 degrees to the right. She continued following where it pointed. Again, she had no control over her hand as she moved. At the same time, Yui had to listen to the song that played over and over again.

"…What is with this song? I can't stand this sound." She commented, continuing her walk.

After following where her hand pointed to for a few minutes, she caught sight of something at the end of the road of light. Something was resting on a pedestal, upright.

"Is that… Gitah!" Yui said as she ran right towards it. Sure enough, the shape and the color was similar to Yui's prized possession; her guitar. Like a child who found her lost toy, she hugged Gitah tightly. "Man, it's been ages since I've seen you, Gitah… then again, you've been inside me all this time…" She spoke to it, noting the fact that the words 'L Gitah' were still inscribed on it. Amidst her excitement, however, she realized that she only had little time before Sawako would take back the guitar and then kill her. "Okay, Gitah… I've found you first. Sawako's not getting her hands on you… I need your power more than ever now… so that I can wake up and fight again… you'd be disappointed if I didn't fight back, right, Gitah?" She asked, strapping the guitar over her shoulder in the proper position, her playing hand raised up and her free hand supporting the neck of the guitar.

With every ounce of strength, feeling, passion and emotion she had in her, she strummed her guitar once.

**0**

Sawako was still searching inside Yui's body for that very same guitar, her hand still inside her. "God damn it, where IS that thing? How deep did Yui hide it?" Her search suddenly stopped, however, when she sensed a sudden burst in power inside Yui's body. She noticed it and quickly pulled out, stepping as far away from her as possible. "What in the…?"

Suddenly, her worst fears were realized. Yui suddenly sat up from her position. She opened her eyes, but only the white of her eyes could be seen, as if her eyes were still rolled to the back of her head. Perhaps she was still 'unconscious' thanks to what Sawako did to her. What she saw next nearly made her jaw drop. Yui slowly stood back up. Starting with her fingertips, they started to turn blue, with strands of lightning flowing through her body. Soon, her whole body started to electrify.

"No… don't tell me… is that the Thunder Goddess?" Sawako yelled in disbelief, as she stared at Yui's new body. Electricity fizzled throughout her body, sparks flying sometimes. Yui's subliminal state of mind didn't help things either. Her blank stare was focused right on Sawako. The glare was a bit too much for her and she outright attacked her with a laser. Yui subconsciously deflected the laser right back at Sawako, forcing the teacher to roll to one side to dodge it. Yui then slowly approached her threateningly. Her very presence was a threat to Sawako, as she launched a desperate flurry of lasers trying to force her back. Unfortunately, all her lasers either deflected off or were absorbed into Yui. Suddenly, Sawako found herself as the hunted instead of the hunter, as Yui suddenly rushed straight to her and punched her right in the face, taking her off her feet and crashing her right into the ice wall. The impact of Sawako's back hitting the wall completely shattered the ice wall. She fell onto her knees before falling flat on her face, the impact possibly taking everything out of her.

It wasn't over for Sawako yet. Yui slowly walked over to her, just about ready to finish this whole affair. Sawako slowly looked up, seeing the approaching guitarist. Her strength really went out the window once Yui had punched her that hard. However, Sawako forced herself to get back up. With what little strength she had left, she pushed herself back up to her two feet. However, by the time she got back up, Yui was looming over her head. As soon as she looked up, she was eye-to-eye with Yui again.

"Y-Yui! C-come on, Yui! Y-you don't want to hurt me, do you?" She pleaded. However, her pleas were falling on deaf ears, as Yui wrapped her right hand around Sawako's neck and choked her harshly, as if she wanted to snap Sawako in half. Yui's empty eyes glared at her teacher, striking fear into her soul.

"You… will… pay…" Yui said, her voice in a near demonic tone, reeling her fist back. With absolutely no feelings, yet no remorse, Yui punched her in the face hard, sending her flying out of the same hole she created. The blow itself incapacitated Sawako. The punch sent her flying out of the castle. No scream or anything. Utter silence as Yui just watched.

The entity that was Yui stood silent for a few seconds, before about-facing and trudging slowly towards the center of the room. She then spread her arms, letting her hands emanate with lightning energy for a few seconds, before releasing a massive shockwave. In a flash, she turned back into her normal self, but the exertion of that amount of energy caused her to immediately pass out...

…as the castle began to crumble.

The castle roof started to crack, huge debris starting to fall. The whole place was going to collapse… and an unconscious Yui was lying down on the center of the ice floor…

**0**

Outside, the rest of the group could feel the tremors coming from the castle. As they had to wait for the portal to reopen by itself, they could only watch as the castle began to fall apart. Chunks of ice falling at high altitude forced the girls to move back so that they don't get hit.

"Talk about your highs and lows." Ritsu snidely commented, but the rest of the girls ignored it. The one concern they had now was whether Yui managed to get out alive. Unfortunately, they couldn't see their leader at the entrance.

"The whole place is going down…" Azusa said. Then, the group heard a sound, signaling that the portal had been re-activated finally.

"Portal's here… let's get out of here." Akiyama ordered in a raspy voice, her weakness still evident.

"Wait, what are you saying, Akiyama?" Mio turned to her and asked, flabbergasted.

"I'm saying we need to go before this whole place crashes down on us. You wanna become a pancake, by all means."

"And what about Yui? You expect us to leave her to die like that?" Akiyama went silent, but Ritsu was going to have none of it.

"So you DO want her to die!"

"That's not what I'm implying, you idiot. If you went in there, you're going to end up like her and we'll have TWO dead souls on our hands. Do you really want that?" Akiyama explained. The crew looked at each other, but once again, Ritsu would remain defiant, walking back to the crumbling castle.

"RITSU!" Mio called out. Ritsu's ears were shut and oblivious to what Mio was saying. She was the one who's regretted everything that she's done so far, from hurting Yui to insulting her and questioning her decisions. If there was any a time to look for forgiveness, now was the time for it. She ran right back into the castle, climbing up the steps of the crumbling castle and looking up to avoid any debris.

"Ritsu-senpai…" Azusa said, looking back as her senior attempted a daring rescue attempt. Akiyama could only scoff before turning back to the portal.

The drummer raced up to where they were earlier; the highest point of the castle where they fought Sawako, dodging chunks of broken ice to get up here. Panting hard, she scoped the area she was in. She had to be quick. The whole place was going to collapse and it would take her with it if she failed. More importantly, it would take Yui down with it as well if she couldn't find her. Lo and behold, she found her leader sprawled on the ground, unconscious, in the center of the room. Ice rocks and small stalactites started falling, so she had to act quick lest she wanted her leader to be impaled. With her flames, she boosted her dash and raced toward her, dodging any ice boulders that impeded her way to Yui. Right as she almost got to her, an ice boulder landed right in front of her, catching her off guard and forcing her to jump over it. Her landing, though, wasn't pleasant, as she tripped up and fell face first next to Yui.

"O-ow… damn it." She said, but she had to get up. She wasn't about to give up. She went to check on her leader. "Still alive… thank you, God!" She carefully carried her over her shoulder, trying not to hurt her anymore than she already was. She did her best to dodge everything she could as more ice kept falling. It seemed as though there was no end to it.

As she rushed for the exit, her strength was waning. The damage she's sustained, not to mention her still injured leg, only slowed her down. The dead weight on her back only slowed her down more. However, she kept pushing on no matter what. She needed to get Yui out. Once she got to the bottom of the stairs, she was almost home free.

Unfortunately, her strength decided to cave in on her. She fell hard on her knees before falling flat. The impact nearly launched Yui far in front of her as she rolled on her side. "D-damn it… Yui…" She could only say in a soft voice, before shutting her eyes and losing her consciousness completely.

At this point… both of them were left for dead…

What they couldn't hear was the voice calling out for them.

"YUI! RITSU!"

**0**

Silence.

That was the common sound that was heard throughout. Only the humming of the air conditioner broke the silence, if just by a bit. The sun lit up through the window, lighting up the patient's face. However, she wasn't able to wake up. She had been like this for 2 days straight, completely still, her consciousness not returning to her yet.

Visiting hours were over, but her friends still stuck by her, waiting for any signs of life to show.

"Is she…" One of them asked, but was quickly shushed by her companion.

"Don't even go there."

"…Sorry." Inappropriateness aside, the three of them waited and waited… until finally the patient could open her eyes.

"U-ungh…" She groaned, her head ached like a quart of firewood being split open. The three friends heard her and quickly went toward her. In a bit of an overjoyed mood, Azusa almost went and hugged her outright, but Tsumugi managed to control her in time.

"Yui… my God, you're finally back with us." Mio said, a relieved figure now that her band-mate is awake.

"H-how long was I out?"

"A whole two days, Yui. We got worried you died on us…" Tsumugi answered this time.

"Two days… shoot. I can't remember what I did two days ago…"

"You took on Sawako, Yui. You gave it everything you had and you defeated her… then you lost consciousness in that crumbling castle." Azusa explained to her.

"Yeah, and then, I'M the one who ran in to save you." From the door, a wrapped up in bandages Tainaka Ritsu said, being supported by crutches, meaning to say that the hole in her leg was still there.

"RITSU! The doctor said you're not supposed to move about yet!" Mio yelled, frustrated at her best friend as she walked right up to her and glared at her. "How are you going to recover in time if you keep defying the doctor's orders?"

"Look, I only came around to see Yui not in sleeping beauty mode, Mio. Relax! I'll be back in bed in no time." Ritsu confidently answered, but it still earned her a continued scowl from Mio.

"If your leg doesn't recover in time, I'm going to murder you, do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am~" She jokingly answered before joining the rest, but was more focused on Yui. "Congratulations on getting the job done, Yui."

"Yeah, thanks… though I get the feeling this is far from over."

"It's still a far cry from restoring our world, but it's a step in the right direction." Ritsu made her way to the chair and sat on it, resting her crutches on the wall. "For now, we all deserve a good rest, don't we?"

"Yeah, we do… all of us need to recover after that night." While the conversation was ongoing, from the corner of her eye, Mio could see another figure at the door. It was Akiyama, reluctant to enter the room at a momentous occasion. She wasn't much of a cheerful woman, so she stayed away from them. Mio headed out towards her and dragged her clone away from the rest, to a safe spot in the long hallway of the hospital.

"So she's recovered…" Akiyama started speaking.

"Yes, she has. You doubted whether she was going to survive all this while."

"…I never did doubt her, really. This IS Yui we're talking about." She said, grinning a bit. Mio couldn't help let out a small chuckle before moving on to the next topic.

"So what about you? Planning to go back to the Dead Hour? I mean, that IS where you're from after all."

"Normally I'd say I would, but I wouldn't want to live in a place filled with things that now loathe me to death." Akiyama retorted, crossing her arms.

"Then… you're going to live with us then?" Mio then asked. The response she got was a bit delayed and started with a bit of a stagger. She couldn't believe it herself. Akiyama was actually showing signs of shyness.

"W-well…" She looked away for 2 seconds before mumbling. "I want to stay with you."

"What? I can't hear you, Akiyama. You're going to have to speak up."

"…I said…" Akiyama was a tad bit louder this time. "I want to stay with you."

"I REALLY can't hear you, Akiyama. Wanna speak up a bit?" Mio said, acting as if she couldn't hear her the first time. This peeved Akiyama and forced her to yell.

"I SAID I WANT TO STAY WITH YOU!" Her voice echoed through the corridor of the hospital. Realizing what she did, she covered her mouth in embarrassment.

"Oh, so you DO want to stay with me." She declared, peeving the clone off that bit more, to the point she may have accidentally popped one of Akiyama's veins.

"YES, you moron. I DO want to stay with you… me going back to the Dead Hour's just a step in the wrong direction for me anyway." Akiyama said, turning to look out the window. "As far as I'm concerned… I'm still going to be watching that place to see if anything else develops… in the meantime, I should probably bunk in with my twin."

"That's all fine and dandy, but how am I going to explain this to my parents if they find you? Not to mention, are you going to school with me?"

"That part, I leave to you." She said, as she had one foot on the window sill, and with some force, jumps her way out of the hospital. Mio tried to pull her back but didn't have enough time.

"O-OY! What do you mean 'leave it to me'?" She yelled at her, watching as her clone runs off right quick. All the bassist did was rest her palm against her face in disbelief. She quickly turned back to join her compatriots. She was still glad that Yui had come back to life finally. But as usual, it was all business, even during these times.

"You guys… did a fantastic job out there. I couldn't have asked for a better team. However…" She stopped, looking out the window for a short moment. "I get the feeling this isn't going to be the last we're going to see of her."

"If that premonition is true… we'll fight with you again, Yui." Tsumugi responded, holding onto her hand.

"We'll do anything to keep Sawako, or anything that threatens the safety of this world, at bay." Azusa declared, showing that she's ready to face up to the challenge.

"You know my answer, Yui." Mio then said. "I'll fight with you no matter what."

"And I have to make up for all the things I put you through, Yui." Ritsu said, still remembering her mistakes.

"Thank you, girls…" She acknowledged.

For the Hokagou Tea Time, a small, little-known rock band from Sakurakou High School…

The fight had ended, but the battle had only just begun.

**0**

**To Be Concluded**

**0**

A/N: About time I managed to get this out. I apologize for being late. National Service hit my schedule pretty hard, plus with gaming and life hitting me. I will still continue this series. Thus ends the 1st of what is to be a 5 part series as I have declared.

Enjoy it when it comes out!


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